da bet7： In January of 2014, Arsenal brought an experienced Swede to the Emirates Stadium.
da wazamba： Unfortunately, it wasn’t the re-signing of club legend Freddie Ljungberg but instead, it was a move to bring Spartak Moscow midfielder Kim Kallstrom in on loan.
After the player signed, Arsene Wenger declared: “He has proven quality at both club and international level. We welcome Kim to Arsenal.”
But with little more than a quick welcome out the way, Kallstrom departed at the end of the season with just four appearances to his name.
He may have scored a crashing penalty against Wigan in the FA Cup semi-final but his time in the capital was marred by injury. It was a classic mantra. Player arrives at Arsenal. Player becomes injured.
But this was someone who walked through the doors of their London Colney training centre already injured. Kallstrom had a back problem which remarkably didn’t stop Wenger from defending his actions.
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“There’s a possibility he will not play, but also a possibility he will score a vital winning goal,” the Frenchman stated. However, fast forward six years to a further deadline day deal and Arsenal are back at it again.
Wenger may be nowhere to be seen, but the Gunners confirmed the arrival of Cedric Soares, a player who enters the Emirates Stadium with a knee ligament injury. That’s set to prevent him from making his debut this weekend, while it may also keep him out for another two weeks.
Further down the line, the 28-year-old may well be solid cover for Hector Bellerin, but that’s all he’s set to be.
Cedric and Kallstrom both came to north London with injuries at moments where they were/are needed in the squad most. The latter arrived to come into the side to cover injuries to Aaron Ramsey and Jack Wilshere at the time. However, he was out for a number of weeks and then struggled to get into the side.
It’s a similar tale for Cedric. With Bellerin only just returning to full fitness after a nightmare 2019 where he experienced a ruptured ACL, having someone to play more or less immediately would be invaluable in the coming matches.
However, it’s unlikely he’ll be back on the pitch in the next few weeks. In the meantime, both Ainsley Maitland-Niles and the aforementioned Spaniard may have cemented places under Mikel Arteta.
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After torrid spells for Kallstrom and then secondly, Denis Saurez last January – someone who played six times, it doesn’t look like they’ve learnt their lesson regarding loans.
After all, with Sead Kolasinac and Kieran Tierney to return and compete for a role at left-back with Bukayo Saka, there won’t be a place there either.
This is a low-risk deal, but it’s hard to see the Portuguese defender achieving much game time. At a time where injuries and low fitness are high in the defensive ranks, Cedric would have been ideal now – not in 2-3 weeks time.