CEDRIC has completed his loan move to Arsenal in a deal that will bag Saints around £5m.

The Gunners agreed to a £3.5m loan fee and will also pay the defender’s wages until the end of the season which will cost in the region of £1.5m.

Cedric’s contract was due to expire at the end of the season and there wasn’t any intention of a new one being offered.

Because of this, Saints opted to cash in on the Portuguese international instead of losing him for nothing in six months’ time.

Cedric was one of the club’s longest-serving players, having joined from Sporting Lisbon for £4.7m in 2015.

He went on to play over 130 games for the club, although his time on the south coast was interrupted by a loan move to Inter Milan last January.

The 28-year-old fell out of favour with Ralph Hasenhuttl when he took charge of the south coast side in December 2018.

Hasenhuttl preferred Yan Valery at right-back which left Cedric consigned to a role on the bench.

It looked as though his Saints career was finished when he went to Inter Milan but he returned last summer and was handed a clean slate by the Austrian.

This led to him playing his way back into the starting XI.

But with Saints adding Kyle Walker-Peters on a six-month loan from Tottenham, it has given Cedric the go-ahead to sign for Arsenal.

The Euro 2016 winner’s last game for the St Mary’s side came in the 2-0 win against Crystal Palace earlier this month.

He suffered a knee ligament injury in the 21st minute and is expected to be out of action for up to three weeks.

Arsenal's technical director Edu said: “Cedric is a defender with good experience of the Premier League, and of course at international level.

"He is another strong addition to our defensive unit who will provide our squad with quality. I know he is a player who plays with absolute full commitment and energy.

"We are all looking forward to going into the last stages of the season with Cedric as part of the club.”