Fulham hopeful of landing Arsenal defender Cedric Soares in permanent transfer as Marco Silva targets two positions to strengthen squad in January

Fulham are hopeful of completing the signing of Arsenal defender Cedric Soares, talkSPORT understands.

Cedric has 18 months left on his Gunners contract but has been told he can leave after failing to force his way into the Premier League leaders' plans.

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The 31-year-old has made just four appearances for Mikel Arteta’s side this season and now Fulham look set to land the Portuguese.

His only start this campaign came in last month’s Carabao Cup defeat to Brighton, while he has played just two minutes of the Gunners’ Europa League campaign.

Fulham boss Marco Silva was interested in adding Soares to his squad in the summer but now looks set to finally get his man.

Silva is keen to add another right-back after injury hampered Kenny Tete’s campaign, whilst summer addition Kevin Mbabu has made just one start.

The former Everton boss is also hoping to sign a midfielder in the January transfer window to further bolster his squad.

Cedric joined Arsenal from Southampton on a free transfer in 2020 after an initial six-month loan at the Emirates Stadium.

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Despite amassing 34 caps for Portugal, he was axed from Fernando Santos’ squad for the World Cup squad after initially being named in a preliminary 55-man list.

Meanwhile, Arsenal and Fulham are gearing up for the return of the Premier League on Boxing Day.

Both side's resume the league season with London derbies ahead of a packed festive fixture schedule.

Arsenal welcome West Ham to the Emirates Stadium, hoping to extend their advantage over Manchester City to eight points.

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Eyes will be on Arteta side to see if they can regain the momentum built up before the World Cup break.

However, the Gunners will be without striker Gabriel Jesus who underwent knee surgery following an injury picked up at the World Cup with Brazil.

Fulham make the short trip to Crystal Palace hoping to continue their excellent first half of the season.

Silva has led Fulham to a respectable eighth place on the table, two-points adrift of neighbours Chelsea.