Arsenal are yet to receive a concrete offer for Cedric Soares as things stand, football.london understands. The Portuguese international was left out of the squad for the Gunners' Premier League clash with Newcastle on Tuesday night prompting speculation that he could be nearing an exit from the Emirates Stadium.
However, as things stand no proposal has come in for the 31-year-old despite suggestions that his salary could scupper a move to Fulham who are weighing up whether to take him on loan for the rest of the season with an option to buy in the summer. The Cottagers are thought to be keen and are expected to make a decision on a move in the coming weeks.
"We are trying to strengthen the squad and some positions," manager Marco Silva said of his side's January business ahead of their clash with Leicester on Tuesday. "But the most important [players] are here. They are working hard."
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Bayer Leverkusen and Villarreal are among the teams who have also shown an interest in Cedric. The former Southampton man has made just one start in the Carabao Cup against Brighton this season and could leave Arsenal this January after falling behind Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu in the pecking order.
After allowing so many players to leave in the January window last summer though, Arsenal are thought to be wary of reducing their squad depth too much as they push for a first Premier League title since 2004. "We know where we are in terms of the squad and the numbers that we have so we’re going to be extremely cautious about what we are going to do in this window," Mikel Arteta told reporters last month.
Meanwhile Arsenal are focusing on trying to bring in players to bolster their attacking line. Edu has submitted a second bid for Shakhtar Donetsk's Mykhaylo Mudryk, but Chelsea are also thought to have entered the race for the Ukrainian. A move for Youri Tielemans looks unlikely though with the Gunners interest in the Belgian understood to have cooled.
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