Nuno Tavares looks set to leave Arsenal this summer on a season-long loan, according to reports. The left-back joined the club 12-months ago, but encountered struggles in his first season in the Premier League.
The 22-year-old made the £7million switch from Benfica, playing as both a promising prospect and a backup to Kieran Tierney on the left flank. In his first campaign for the Gunners, Tavares made 27 competitive appearances, however his difficulties in defending had raised eyebrows.
The Portuguese youth international was substituted at half-time in several games after struggling to contain the opposition, with one such occasion against Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup resulting in an angry reaction to Mikel Arteta. The Spaniard later explained how the defender needed more games to feel the rhythm.
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"Throughout your career you have to go through difficult moments," Arteta said when asked about the youngster's difficulties during the season. "He's had some really good periods since he arrived at the club and he was playing many more minutes than he was probably expecting. That’s the life of a player, especially at that age.
"There’s ups and downs and we are here to try and help him and make his career better, and that’s what we’re going to do. His confidence probably wasn’t the best because he wasn’t playing a lot of minutes and he needs the rhythm, the competition and the understanding with his teammates.
"We have to help him to do that, but at the end of the day, when you’re in a match you have to decide if something can change the game and how can we make it better."
Pre-season has since come with its own challenges as the arrival of Oleksandr Zinchenko may have impacted Tavares. The Ukraine international plays at both left-back and central midfield, most likely dropping the Portuguese defender lower down the pecking order.
He will still need game time to continue developing though and it seems as though there has been a plan in place to deal with that. Rumours have suggested a loan move could be on the cards, however Fabrizio Romano now reports that Marseille have re-opened talks with Arsenal over a deal to take Tavares on loan for the season.
The deal would include no buy option, with the French club optimistic they can seal the move for the full-back. It would be a similar path to that of William Saliba, who made the switch to Marseille last season, winning the Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year award as well as a call-up to the French national team.
That move clearly worked wonders, with Saliba now pushing towards a first-team place. Tavares will certainly be hopeful his potential move could have the same outcome as his teammate.
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