Arsenal outcast Nuno Tavares has been kicked out of training at loan club Marseille after angering manager Igor Tudor.
Tavares was sent out to the Ligue 1 side in the summer transfer window having failed to impress in his debut season with the Gunners. With Oleksandr Zinchenko arriving from Manchester City, Tavares' game-time was set to be drastically cut.
Instead, he has been a regular for Les Phocéens since joining in July, making 33 appearances in all competitions. But the fullback is now in the headlines for all the wrong reasons after falling out with boss Tudor, who had brought Tavares to the Orange Velodrome.
According to L'Equipe, Tudor kicked Tavares out of a training session last week. The Croatian refused to name the Portuguese fullback as he admitted a player had been sent back to the dressing room for a lack of effort.
But it has since been reported that it was Tavares who had failed to match Tudor's high standards. It is not the first time Tavares has come in for criticism, with his erratic decision-making landing him in hot water.
It appears to have been a brief banishment for the fullback, who played all 90 minutes in Marseille's draw with Montpellier on Friday. But Tudor has made it clear in no uncertain terms that he will not tolerate a lack of effort from his players.
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“In my football, there is a feature, you have to run. And if you don’t… If I see one player that doesn’t run in training, I’ll say it once, twice and then on the third time of asking, I’ll intervene,” he told L''Equipe.
“During the hour or so of training, I am demanding, the players have understood it. But if they want rest days, I can give them some too. And we can joke or laugh, but work is work.“
It is a disappointing turn of events for Tavares, with Tudor having sung his praises just last week. The Marseille boss went as far as to suggest that the fullback could go on to play at one of Europe's top clubs.
“He’s still a young player. He’s got fantastic physical capacities. He’s got an outstanding ability to run. He could play at Real Madrid, at Barcelona, at Manchester City… He still needs to grow and progress, we talk a lot to him,” Tudor said.
“He’s been very important to us this season. He’s scored a few goals, which isn’t that common at his position. What’s important is the way we finish the season. He can change games when he’s in form.”
Tavares will return to Arsenal at the end of his loan agreement when the season comes to a close. Marseille currently sit third in Ligue 1, six points behind leaders Paris Saint-Germain.
