Arsenal defender agrees terms with Turkish side

Arsenal will be hoping to close the gap to Premier League leaders Liverpool when they host London rivals Crystal Palace on Saturday afternoon. 

The Gunners currently sit fourth in the top flight table, but victory over Eagles would move Mikel Arteta’s side ahead of third-placed Aston Villa.

Having come close to winning the Premier League last season, Arteta will be keen to see his side challenge for the trophy once again this time around.

After an impressive start to the campaign, the Gunners have now won just once in their past five matches in the competition, and Arteta will be expecting to see his side return to winning ways on Saturday.

Ahead of the game, one of Arsenal’s defenders has reportedly agreed terms with a foreign club.

As per Football Insider, full-back Cedric Soares has agreed terms with Turkish side Besiktas.

Soares is said to have agreed terms with Besiktas

Despite the player having agreed terms, the report claims that the two clubs are yet to reach an agreement, with Arsenal demanding a fee in order to allow the defender to leave on loan.

Soares, 32, joined the Gunners from Southampton in January 2020, initially on loan before making the move permanent six months later.

He has made a total of 61 appearances for Arsenal across all competitions, but has struggled to ever establish himself as a regular in North London.

The defender’s current contract with Arsenal is set to expire this summer when he could leave for free, and the Portugal international can even sign a pre-contract agreement with any foreign club this month.

With that in mind, Arsenal are keen to force Besiktas to pay a fee to loan the defender for the rest of the season, when he could then join the Turkish side as a free agent.

Alternatively, the player could move to Besiktas on a permanent deal this month.