Arsenal to let defender leave before deadline in surprise move: report

Arsenal are set to let a third player leave the club on loan on deadline day – in a surprising move, considering it seemed dead in the water.

The Gunners have sanctioned a move for Albert Sambi Lokonga to depart the club on loan to Crystal Palace, despite an injury to Mohamed Elneny. Jorginho was brought in as cover for £12 million, leaving the Belgian lacking in potential opportunities. 

Young Brazilian winger Marquinhos is also off. Norwich City have completed a move for the player who has only started in the Europa League and was touted for a loan in the summer – only for club record signing Nicolas Pepe to leave without a replacement. 

Now, The Athletic are reporting that Fulham are set to complete the signing of Cedric Soares until the end of the season.

The Portuguese full-back was a regular for Arsenal last term but has barely played this season, following the return of William Saliba from Marseille, the move of Ben White to full-back and the signing of Oleksandr Zinchenko. A loan move had been rumoured this month but looked to be off until now. 

The Gunners were apparently interested in bringing Ivan Fresneda from Real Valladolid as another option at right-back – but couldn't sanction an exit for Cedric in time to sign the teen.

Fresneda chose to remain in Spain, however, so may be pursued once more in the summer. 

Cedric joined Arsenal initially on loan from Southampton as one of Mikel Arteta's first signings before joining permanently. He scored on his Gunners debut – and has since played 33 times in the league for the table-toppers. 

The 31-year-old is worth around €4 million, according to Transfermarkt. 

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Arsenal are considering re-signing Yunus Musah, while Cody Gakpo was an option, too – Joao Felix emerged as a potential superstar signing at the Emirates Stadium, too.

Mikel Arteta has admitted the Gunners are looking for new signings, with Sergej Milinkovic-Savic having been linked.