It has been a relatively quiet start to the January transfer window for Arsenal, aside from developments regarding their pursuit of Shakhtar Donetsk winger Mykhaylo Mudryk.
In fact, the two deals the club have confirmed so far haven't been first-team related with academy prospects Brooke Norton-Cuffy and Miguel Azeez joining Championship sides Coventry City and Wigan Athletic respectively on loan for the remainder of the season after being recalled from spells at Rotherham United and UD Ibiza.
But is another announcement, this time with regard to an Arsenal senior player leaving, imminent? Well, that remains to be seen but speculation over Cedric Soares' future is sure to ramp up after he was left out of the matchday squad altogether for the 3-0 FA Cup third-round win over Oxford United on Monday night.
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This is the second time in successive games that the 31-year-old has not been selected by Mikel Arteta after also missing the goalless draw at home to Newcastle United last week.
For Cedric to not even be amongst the substitutes at the Kassam Stadium was somewhat of a surprising decision given what the Gunners manager has previously said about giving him more minutes in addition to naming a heavily rotated side against the League One outfit
"The competition is one (reason), the second one is because he was injured for a while and he had a recurring injury," the Spaniard told football.london when asked why the full-back had not been playing more before the World Cup break. "Now he’s fit, and he's a player who deserves to play. I want to give him the minutes because he deserves that."
Cedric did feature in the warm-up games prior to the season resuming and was named on the bench for wins over West Ham United and Brighton. So to be absent from the last two fixtures will only add even more fuel to the fire that he could be on the verge of leaving Arsenal in the coming days.
Having fallen behind Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu in the pecking order at right-back, the Portuguese defender has held talks with Fulham and Bayer Leverkusen over a move, while La Liga outfit Villarreal are also interested and all three clubs could offer him regular first-team football during the second half of the season.
However, football.london understands that the Gunners are yet to receive a concrete offer for Cedric 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.
As there's been no confirmation that the reason behind his recent absence is transfer-related, if Arsenal aren't close to announcing their third deal of the January transfer window then football.london have had some fun speculating on his whereabouts of late.
Injured?
Earlier in the season, Cedric missed three games in a row after picking up a knock in training. Arteta alluded to this as a reason why the defender's only competitive start across all competitions so far was the Carabao Cup third-round defeat at the hands of Brighton & Hove Albion.
It would make a lot of sense if the 31-year-old's recent absence is injury-related. The fact he wasn't spotted in any training pictures of late or the 4.27-minute video clip uploaded to YouTube prior to the Oxford game could be an indication that he hasn't been available for selection for the last two games.
Now, it should be pointed out that there's been no confirmation that Cedric is indeed injured and perhaps Arteta will provide an update on the whole situation when speaking to the media later in the week ahead of Sunday's North London Derby against Tottenham Hotspur.
Extra attacker on the bench?
Alternatively, Cedric is fit but is simply a victim of circumstances at the club right now. With Gabriel Jesus and Reiss Nelson out injured, and Mudryk still not signed, Arsenal don't have a lot of depth in the forward areas and this was highlighted in the goalless draw with Newcastle.
In Kieran Tierney, Ben White, Gabriel Magalhaes, William Saliba, Rob Holding, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Oleksandr Zinchenko, Arteta has enough defensive cover to leave out Cedric completely and go with an extra attacker - which has been youngster Nathan Butler-Oyedeji for the past two games.
So it could just be a case that the Gunners manager wants extra firepower on the bench which has been at the expense of the experienced defender and it might also be a message to the board that reinforcements in the attack are required before the January transfer window closes.
"The problem is that we have only one striker and to cope for that many months until Gabby (Jesus) is back is not easy", Arteta said after the win over Oxford. "But we have to get the most out of the players that we have at the moment. If we can have some reinforcements, great."
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