French giants Marseille have decided against pursuing a permanent deal for Arsenal loanee Nuno Tavares, who was kicked out of training by Igor Tudor last week.
Tavares, 22, endured a difficult maiden season in the Premier League after joining the Gunners from Benfica in an £7million deal last year and was given the green light to link up with Marseille on loan for the season in the summer transfer window.
The left-back, who was eager to play first-team football on a more regular basis, made a promising start to life in Ligue 1 - but things have started to unravel over the past week or so.
According to L'Equipe, Tudor banished Tavares from a training session last week after being irked by the Portuguese international's attitude, with the Marseille boss later revealing that an unnamed player (Tavares) had been sent back to the dressing room because of a lack of effort.
And off the back of that development, French outlet Foot-Sur7 have claimed that Marseille now have 'no intention' of pursuing a permanent deal for Tavares, whose attitude has annoyed the club hierarchy.
Given that no permanent option was included in the initial loan deal that took Tavares to France, it appears as though the full-back will be returning to the Emirates in the summer - despite the fact he previously made it clear that he wanted to quit the club for good.
"At Arsenal, I do not know if it was a problem of competition with Kieran Tierney, but for me, that's not even the point," the defender told RMC Sport earlier in the season.
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"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. Now I'm at OM, and with or without an option, I'm happy. At Arsenal, I would have probably only played in the cup."
With Marseille now unwilling to consider signing Tavares on a permanent basis, the youngster could be left in limbo with Arsenal currently well-stocked in the left-back area.
Summer signing Oleksandr Zinchenko has made a major impact since signing for the club from title rivals Manchester City with previous first-choice Kieran Tierney also waiting in the wings. And with right-back Takehiro Tomiyasu also deputising on the opposite flank this season, Mikel Arteta could be more than happy to cash in on Tavares - if there is actually any interest in his services.
Tavares has scored six times in 24 appearances for Marseille this season. The French outfit currently third in Ligue 1 and just six points behind league leaders Paris Saint-Germain.
