Arsenal and Mikel Arteta will be hoping Nuno Tavares' loan at Marseille returns similar results to that of William Saliba this season.
Saliba joined the Gunners in 2019 and spent the last three seasons out on loan, returning to the Emirates Stadium to challenge for a first team spot ahead of the 2022/23 campaign. The French defender won Ligue 1's Young player of the Season award after putting in consistently impressive performances and now looks to set to start the new season alongside Gabriel in defence.
Tavares struggled during his debut season in north London, making just 28 appearances in all competitions after arriving from Benfica last summer. Arteta will be hoping that the 22-year-old can enjoy a similar success to Saliba with Marseille for the upcoming season after the Portuguese defender sealed a move to the Ligue 1 side this week.
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Tavares fell down the pecking order in the Arsenal squad after the arrival of Oleksandr Zinchenko from Manchester City in a £32million deal. The Ukraine international has started at left-back since moving to the Emirates Stadium, with Kieran Tierney still recovering from a knee injury picked up in April.
The Scotland international will battle with Zinchenko for a starting spot at left-back now, but injury issues hamper Tierney's chances of starting the new season and he now faces an uphill battle to replace the Ukrainian defender in Arteta's starting line-up.
Tavares would have been the third choice left-back if he stayed with Arsenal for the 2022/23 campaign and instead has been allowed to leave the club on loan as he looks to find form and develop further before returning to north London next summer.
The 22-year-old can take lessons from Saliba after the French defender enjoyed a stellar season with the Ligue 1 outfit, making 51 appearances in all competitions and helping Marseille qualify for the Champions League.
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