Arsenal defender Nuno Tavares is ‘in danger of getting cut’ at the Emirates and could make way for further reinforcements by Mikel Arteta in the summer, journalist Paul Brown has suggested to GIVEMESPORT.
The 23-year-old joined the Gunners for a fee of £8 million in 2021 and was loaned to Ligue 1 giants Marseille at the beginning of 2022/23.
Arsenal latest news – Nuno Tavares
Earlier this month, L’Equipe via GOAL reported that Tavares was reprimanded at Marseille training by manager Igor Tudor in light of putting in a ‘lack of effort’, leading to the Portuguese full-back being sent back to the dressing room.
Nevertheless, the loanee has since gone on to feature for the full 90 minutes for Marseille in their last two fixtures against Montpellier and Lorient in Ligue 1.
Tavares has played 34 times for Les Olympiens this campaign in all competitions, managing to register six goals in the process, as per Transfermarkt.
As quoted by RMC Sport via The Daily Mail, the former Benfica ace hit out at Arsenal for omitting an optional purchase option for Marseille in his loan agreement, stating: ‘I came to Marseille to finally be able to play in my position. When signing with OM, I wanted to have an option to buy, but Arsenal refused. With my agents, we always wanted this purchase option, but Arsenal didn’t.”
What has Paul Brown said about Nuno Tavares?
Journalist Brown doesn’t think that Arsenal have missed Tavares all that much since loaning him to Marseille and could see him being moved on in the summer.
Brown told GMS: “It doesn’t sound like Tavares has much of a future at Arsenal; they clearly haven’t missed him and Arteta will be keen to make room in the squad for new arrivals. It’s possible that you could see at least three or four new players come to Arsenal; you’d be expecting those to be high-profile signings who can make a real difference to the squad. I think Tavares is definitely in danger of getting cut.”
Will Tavares be kept on or sold by Arsenal in the summer?
At this point, it is difficult to say, as Arsenal are more likely to be concerned with focusing all of their efforts into trying to seal a first Premier League title triumph since 2004.
Nevertheless, Arteta will be keen to get his summer transfer plans in motion ahead of the 2023/24 campaign, which is likely to involve the Spaniard letting some of his fringe stars move on to make way for fresh reinforcements.
In terms of the left-back position, Kieran Tierney is one figure who has been linked with a move away from the Emirates, with 90min reporting in March that several English top-flight clubs are rumoured to be plotting a swoop for his services.
Should Tierney leave north London, there could be an opening for Tavares to stake his claim for regular first-team action with the Gunners; however, there is also the possibility that Arsenal could dip into the market for a new face on the left-hand side of their defence.
