Arsenal look set to move on a defender, following comments from a club president over signing the star.
The Gunners held Liverpool to a 2-2 draw at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday in a clash between two title rivals, with Mikel Arteta bringing Jurrien Timber and Bukayo Saka back from injury. Saka scored, while summer signing Mikel Merino got his first for the club, too.
The game was not without its negatives for Arteta though, who lost centre-back Gabriel, ranked at no.6 in FourFourTwo's list of the best centre-backs in the world right now, after a knock – with William Saliba suspended following his red card against Bournemouth. With Premier League injuries beginning to mount for all sides, Arteta may have to be creative in the coming weeks.
Arsenal set to sell another defender, following a clause being met
Arsenal finished the Liverpool game with a back four of Thomas Partey, Ben White, Jakub Kiwior and Myles Lewis-Skelly, a midfielder playing as an inverted full-back. Only White is a member of Arteta's first-choice backline, and he was out of position.
The north Londoners opted not to keep Nuno Tavares over the summer, a senior left-back, despite him spending a season at the Emirates Stadium – but with the Portuguese now on loan at Lazio, a permanent exit is almost a formality, as confirmed by I Biancazzurri's president.
As relayed by Tuttomercatoweb, Claudio Lotito has said that there's no chance he'd consider selling the star in the summer – even for a huge sum – after Tavares has registered seven assists in Serie A already this season.
“Already a capital gain? I won’t sell him even for €70m,” Lotito is quoted as saying. “We have beaten off a lot of competition from the big clubs for the full-back.”
The 24-year-old has emerged after being benched for the first two games of the season to play the last seven fixtures. Lazio have an obligation to sign him, should he meet various criteria that have not been disclosed – but Lotito's comments certainly suggest that the deal is very likely to be made, now.
In FourFourTwo's opinion, Tavares was more than capable of providing minutes in Mikel Arteta's squad this season but a move to Serie A to play regular football has been the best thing for his career. Arsenal will certainly not rue receiving a bigger fee for the star, either, since he showed very little promise on loan at Nottingham Forest – with the Lazio move seen at the time as a good deal from Arsenal to move a fringe star out the door.
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The full-back was a low-cost option and served a purpose: in our opinion, it would be cruel to call him a flop.
Tavares is worth €15 million, as per Transfermarkt. Arsenal take on Newcastle United this weekend when Premier League action returns.
