Juventus linked with swoop for Southampton’s Cedric Soares
By Chris Hughes
Serie A giants Juventus are among those interested in highly-rated Southampton right-back Cedric Soares.
According to a report in a Portuguese tabloid, both the Saints and the Italian champions are in the early stages of discussion regarding a move for the former’s first-choice right-back.
Juventus are keen to to add a new full-back following the increased speculation that Dani Alves will soon join former boss Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, in a deal worth around 5 million euros.
In his place it seems like the Old Lady are interested in bringing in a defender with room to grow and improve, something that would they have already found with starting left-back Alex Sandro.
At 25-years-old Cedric is a fully-fledged Portuguese international and has nearly 200 competitive club appearances under his belt, yet despite this he has seemingly gone under the radar.
His partner-in-crime Ryan Bertrand has taken a lot of the limelight with his links to Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City, yet it could be argued that Cedric is just as important to the squad.
Last season he made 34 appearances in all competitions and whilst he didn’t score, he had one of the best crossing success rates in the Southampton ranks.
His ability to whip in a ball and the hard-working and tireless runs he makes week in, week out make him a great candidate for the vacant wing-back spot with Juve, who are famed for their successive three-at-the-back formations with game-changing wing-backs.
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Despite being a Premier League talent Cedric’s stock is perhaps not as high as some of the other full-backs Juventus have been linked with, with Soares’ value believed to be around £20-25 million.
If Southampton do make that kind of money in a transfer for the Portuguese man then it’d be a fantastic bit of profit in comparison to their investment, having signed him from Sporting Lisbon for around £6 million just two years ago.