If there were any raised eyebrows at Arsenal handing out a bumper four-year deal to Cedric, then his performance on Thursday night in the Europa League just served to reinforce those major doubts.

Speaking a few months ago, Mikel Arteta made a point of hailing the Portugal international's quality, and saying that he was ready to showcase his talents.

He said: "He’s a different quality in the full-back area than what we have. He’s a gifted, technical player and is probably the best we have in the final third to make the right decision and attack the box as well. He can play in a four or a five, he’s a really good player with experience in the Premier League that can help us."

If Arteta was hoping that his words were going to be vindicated against Rapid Vienna, then he was sadly mistaken. Playing as a right wing-back in this back-five formation, Cedric looked completely out of sorts, particularly strange given his previous experience of playing in the Europa League.

As per Sofascore, he delivered no defensive contributions whatsoever in the time that he was on the pitch, making zero tackles, interceptions, clearances or even blocked shots.

And going forward, he wasn't much better either, registering no shots and only successfully delivering two out of the six crosses that he attempted.

It was no surprise that when Arteta took him off in the 61st minute for Hector Bellerin, the Gunners looked a far bigger threat, and it was the Spaniard himself who ended up setting up Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for the Arsenal winner.

Bellerin is the undoubted first-choice in the Premier League, but if his deputy can't even deliver a competent performance in the secondary competitions, then what was the point of signing him permanently?

Arteta hasn't got many things wrong at Arsenal in his short time in charge - the FA Cup and Community Shield triumphs are testament to that - but his part in Cedric still being at the club has been his biggest blunder.