Arsenal’s Cedric Soares turned down a late move to Benfica in January as he was concerned over the wages he would be earning.
That’s according to Record, who say the Portugal international intends to find himself a lucrative deal at his next club and that ultimately scared off Benfica.
The newspaper explains that the Portuguese side were focused on finding a new right back before the end of the January window, with a signing considered to provide competition to Alexander Bah.
One name on the table was Arsenal’s Cedric Soares, with Record discovering that there were exploratory talks between the club and the 32-year-old.
His contract with Arsenal ends in June so he was able to talk to the Eagles under the Bosman ruling but, during those talks, he made it clear he intend to find himself a big salary at this point in his career.
He intends to ‘sign a good contract in financial terms’ when he does leave Arsenal while Benfica wanted to guarantee a less expensive solution given, they’d be back up to Bah.
They wanted someone affordable, and Soares’ proved to be anything but when he revealed his financial intentions.
Thus, Benfica pulled out and Soares now appears to be looking at Turkey, where Besiktas, Trabzonspor and more recently Galatasaray have shown an interest.
Indeed, according to Record the latter are pushing ahead and while a concrete proposal has not been made to Arsenal as yet, a permanent move is in the works on a two-and-a-half-year deal.
