Cedric Likely To Return To St Mary's In The Summer

Reports from Italy suggest that Cedric Soares's time in Italy at Inter Milan is not going as well as hoped and that it is unlikely that he will move on a permanent basis in the summer.

Cedric moved to Inter Milan for the rest of the season in a move that saw Saints get a loan fee purported to be around half a million pounds and with an option to buy for the Italian club in the summer for around £11 million.

Saints would consider that a good piece of business given the emergence of Yan Valery and the fact that Cedric is in the last year of his contract at St Mary's but the stumbling block looks to be that he can't get in their side.

The 27-year-old has been unable to oust the player he was signed to replace, Danilo D’Ambrosio out of the side, also Inter are being linked with Manchester United's Matteo Darmian and a return to St. Mary’s at the end of the season rather than a permanent transfer to the San Siro now looks to be on the cards.

Since joining Inter he has started only one game of the five possible in Serie A, in which he was subbed off after 79 minutes with another appearance as a last minute substitute, in the last three games he has been an unused substitute.

This has fuelled reports in Italy that Inter won't pursue Cedric in the summer and are not likely to activate their option to buy.

So Cedric looks to be about to return to St Mary's although whether he will see out the final year of his contract remains to be seen, Saints were hoping to get about £11 million from Inter but are unlikely to get that as he enters his final season and might have to settle for a cut price sale perhaps for a higher fee than they paid in 2015 of £5 million, but nowhere near the £11 million they hoped to get.

Cedric has been a good servant to Saints in his years at the club starting 101 Premier League games in his 3 1/2 years plus another 3 as sub and has been a virtual everpresent apart from injuries and a spell under Ronald Koeman out of favour.

What to read next: