The Arsenal shirt numbers available to Cedric Soares ahead of loan deal

pArsenal are set to announce yet another defensive signing before the January transfer window closes./p pOn Tuesday afternoon, Pablo Mari became the first signing under new head coach Mikel Arteta as the Spanish centre-back sealed a loan move from Flamengo - a deal which could be made permanent at the end of the season./p pBut the Gunners arenapos;t done in terms of new arrivals./p video id=6127267255001 title=Premier League transfer round-up: Eriksen completes Inter Milan move poster=https://cf-images.eu-west-1.prod.boltdns.net/v1/static/4221396001/5e4687aa-d8db-471e-acf0-3a4180cf9662/daf02cb4-a4ee-455b-8e63-034b31d9bed1/1280x720/match/image.jpgsource type=video/mp4 src=https://house-fastly-signed-eu-west-1-prod.brightcovecdn.com/media/v1/pmp4/static/clear/4221396001/5e4687aa-d8db-471e-acf0-3a4180cf9662/7a74d131-5f18-4c53-91de-c40b1abd7863/main.mp4?fastly_token=NWUzMzIwYzdfNmI5ODU1ZmE4OWU0NzA0YWZmZGNmNTkwYWE3MjE1MzlkOTI0ZGY1ZjBlNjViMzliYjUzZGU4NWRjNjJmMzcyZF8vL2hvdXNlLWZhc3RseS1zaWduZWQtZXUtd2VzdC0xLXByb2QuYnJpZ2h0Y292ZWNkbi5jb20vbWVkaWEvdjEvcG1wNC9zdGF0aWMvY2xlYXIvNDIyMTM5NjAwMS81ZTQ2ODdhYS1kOGRiLTQ3MWUtYWNmMC0zYTQxODBjZjk2NjIvN2E3NGQxMzEtNWYxOC00YzUzLTkxZGUtYzQwYjFhYmQ3ODYzL21haW4ubXA0/video pSouthampton right-back Cedric Soares is closing in on a rather surprise move to the Emirates Stadium and confirmation of this deal inched closer following the arrival of Kyle Walker-Peters at St Maryapos;s on loan from Tottenham Hotspur./p pA Portugal international with plenty of experience in the Premier League, the 28-year-old is out of contract with the Saints at the end of the season and could be available for around #xA3;5m./p p strongFootball.london/strong a data-content-type=news data-link-tracking=InArticle|Link href=https://www.football.london/arsenal-fc/transfer-news/cedric-to-arsenal-transfer-news-17654429understands that while it initially appeared the Gunners would be signing him on a permanent basis/a it would now appear Cedric is set to arrive on loan. /p pOnce itapos;s confirmed that the right-back is an Arsenal player, he will need to be allocated a squad number./p pFor Southampton heapos;s worn the no.2 shirt ever since he arrived from Sporting CP, but he had no.21 during a loan spell at Inter Milan last season and that is what he wears for the national team./p pWhich of those aforementioned squad numbers would be available to the 28-year-old should he complete his move?/p pHere we take a look to see what numbers are currently free in north London./p p strongNo.4/strong /p pHanded the No.4 shirt ahead of the 2018/2019, Mohamed Elneny barely featured under Emery and was loaned out to Besiktas in the summer./p p strongNo.6/strong /p pThe departure of captain Laurent Koscielny to Bordeaux means that the number 6 shirt is now available to any potential new signings./p img src=https://i2-prod.football.london/incoming/article16446214.ece/ALTERNATES/s810/0_GettyImages-516201220.jpg title=Laurent Koscielny takes on Luis Suarez during the UEFA Champions League round of 16 match between FC Barcelona and Arsenal on March 16, 2015 data-portal-copyright=VI Images via Getty Images p strongNo.7/strong /p pHenrikh Mkhitaryan took over this number from Alexis Sanchez two years ago, but hasnapos;t been at his best with the Gunners and is spending the season with Roma in Italy./p p strongNo.12/strong /p pStephan Lichtsteiner left Arsenal when his contract expired at the end of last season./p p strongNo.13/strong /p pDavid Ospina left the club after making the permanent switch to loan club Napoli earlier in the summer./p p strongNo.17/strong /p pMade vacant following Alex Iwobiapos;s big money move to Everton in the summer. Although, William Saliba did train with this squad number earlier in the season./p img src=https://i2-prod.football.london/incoming/article16917345.ece/ALTERNATES/s810/0_William-Saliba-17.jpg title=William Saliba during a training session at London Colney data-portal-copyright=Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images p strongNo.18/strong /p pOne of two shirt numbers Nacho Monreal had at the Emirates, but he departed for Real Sociedad in the summer with the Gunners well-stocked for options at left-back./p p strongNo.22/strong /p pArsenal opted against signing Denis Suarez on a permanent deal this summer after a disastrous loan spell in north London./p p strongNo.25/strong /p pIt was finally the summer when Carl Jenkinson departed after plenty of exit talk over the past few seasons./p pHe sealed a move to Championship side Nottingham Forest, but missed the chance of a swift reunion as injury ruled him out of the Carabao Cup meeting between the two teams earlier in the campaign./p