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Southampton: Does Cedric have a future with Saints when he returns?

By Marc Walker

MILAN, ITALY - MARCH 10: Cedric Soares of FC Internazionale looks on during the Serie A match between FC Internazionale and SPAL at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on March 10, 2019 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Emilio Andreoli/Getty Images)
MILAN, ITALY - MARCH 10: Cedric Soares of FC Internazionale looks on during the Serie A match between FC Internazionale and SPAL at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on March 10, 2019 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Emilio Andreoli/Getty Images) /
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Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhuttl got straight into sorting his squad when he was appointed in January and sent a number of players out on-loan.

Somewhat surprisingly, one of those players was Cedric and the Portuguese international went out to Inter Milan until the end of the season.

As the only senior Right-Back at the club, the move proved to be a signal of intent from Hasenhuttl and a show of his faith in the youth currently at his disposal.

Yan Valery has since taken his place in the first-team and performed remarkably well considering the circumstances that he finds himself in.

With Cedric now likely to be second choice behind the Frenchman, does Cedric have a future with Saints?

LONDON, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 05: Cedric of Southamton in action during the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Southampton FC at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on December 05, 2018 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – DECEMBER 05: Cedric of Southamton in action during the Premier League match between Tottenham Hotspur and Southampton FC at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on December 05, 2018 in London, United Kingdom. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images) /

Next. Long withdraws from Republic of Ireland squad. dark

It would appear that the current situation would be very difficult to reverse after he was frozen out by Hasenhuttl.

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A message like that from the Saints boss would hint at him trying to build for the future, and a stronger future certainly now lies with Valery over Cedric.

Saints will have to find a club to buy the 27-year-old from them though and some reports from Italy have said that Inter Milan are not keen on taking him permanently.

His loan at the San Siro is said to include a view to a permanent deal but he has only made seven starts from a possible 11 games, and crucially stayed on the bench in four of his seven league games so far.

What is for sure is that Cedric has been a pretty reliable player for Saints since he came in.

He was signed for around £4m from Sporting Lisbon and had big boots to fill to replace Nathaniel Clyne.

119 appearances saw him become an important part of the side that finished sixth in the Premier League and qualified for the Europa League.

Some poor performances in the last year are more set in the minds of Saints fans and his standards did slip before he was loaned out, but his good spells should be remembered too.

Decisions such as Hasenhuttl’s to move him on have to be stuck by and it is likely that he will have played his last game for the club.