Marquinhos, Soares and six Arsenal players who could leave in the January transfer window

It’s been a very difficult season for Cedric Soares so far. The experienced Portugal defender has barely been given a sniff of action by Arteta, making just four appearances in all competitions.

His only start came in the Carabao Cup defeat by Brighton and he has only been used twice off the bench in the Premier League.

Even in the Europa League, where he would have expected to get some minutes this season, he has featured just once -  coming on for the final two minutes during the home win against FC Zurich.

There is no doubt that Soares would have been expecting to get more game time this season. He did have opportunities to move on last summer, but opted to stay to try and fight for his place in the team. 

But with Ben White now having established himself as first choice right-back and Takehiro Tomiyasu also in front of him in the pecking order, Soares’ chances of getting minutes now seem slimmer than ever.

So should an opportunity to move on in January arise, it could be an appealing option to the former Southampton man, who still has 18 months left on his contract in north London.

And Arsenal might not stand in his way, given the options they have in the squad at his position.

There was a good chance that Marquinhos was going to be sent out on loan last summer following his arrival from Sao Paulo.

But the winger's performances in pre-season and the way he handled himself around the training ground convinced Arsenal that it would be a better idea to keep him around the club for at least another six months.

It was decided that having him train with the first team would be beneficial, not just because he could be used in cup competitions, but because it would also give him the opportunity to acclimatise to his new surroundings and settle into London.

Marquinhos has gone on to feature five times in all competitions this season, and scored his first goal in the Europa League win at Zurich.

The winger has made himself a popular member of the squad, but the club are now considering whether a loan move in January would be best for the 19-year-old’s continued development.

Game time over the second half of the season would be extremely limited at Arsenal, so a move away to a club where he could play on a regular basis could be viewed as an appealing option to all parties.

This one does feel unlikely, given Nelson has featured far more than many expected this season, while the injury he picked up in mid-December makes him far less appealing to teams who would want him to make an instant impact.

But he is out of contract at the end of the season, so a tempting offer in January could see Arsenal at least consider cashing in on the 22-year-old.

It’s difficult to imagine Nelson being allowed to leave unless Arsenal brought in another winger, but that is an area where the Gunners are potentially looking to strengthen in January.

For now, it feels unlikely. But Nelson’s contract situation means a move away can’t be completely ruled out, although he has spoken several times in recent months about is desire to earn himself a new deal at Arsenal.

The young Romanian has been one of the stars of Arsenal's Under-21s this season.

Cirjan wasn’t fully fit in the summer, when the vast majority of the club’s top young talents were sent on loan to continue their development.

But now he has completely recovered from the knee injury that saw him sidelined for more than a year, Cirjan has been showing why he is so highly-rated at Arsenal, producing several eye-catching displays with the U21s.

Given the way Arsenal now look to utilise the loan market when it comes to their best young players, it would be no surprise should they decide to send the playmaker out to give him a taste of senior football over the second half of the season.

It will be interesting to see what happens with Smith in January.

The midfielder has had various loan spells over the last couple of years, but it was decided last summer that he would stay at Arsenal for the start of the 2022-23 season to captain the U21s.

That’s a responsibility he has enjoyed, and he has also been in Arteta’s first-team squad on a number of occasions this season, without ever getting onto the pitch.

Smith is 22 now and needs to be playing regularly. It’s almost certain he will leave in the summer, but a tempting offer in January could be enough to see him move on a bit earlier than expected.

It feels like Taylor-Hart needs something to kickstart his career.

The talented attacker has struggled with injuries and has found his game time with the U21s extremely limited over the past couple of seasons.

While other Arsenal youngsters have progressed, Taylor-Hart has struggled to make much of an impact and it could be that a spell away on loan in January is just what he needs to get things going again.