Nuno Tavares will reportedly reject a loan move to Marseille this summer with Arsenal keen to move the defender on before the end of the transfer window.
The Gunners are making a move for Manchester City star Oleksandr Zinchenko which could potentially see the Portuguese defender fall down the pecking order at the Emirates Stadium.
Having only signed him from Benfica last summer, the north London side aren’t yet ready to give up on the 22-year-old permanently following a tricky debut campaign and instead would like to send him out on loan. Marseille have emerged as front-runners for his services with the Ligue 1 club having forged a profitable relationship with the Gunners following successful stints in France for the likes of William Saliba and Matteo Guendouzi.
Les Olympiens are reported to hold Tavares ‘in high esteem’ as per La Provence but a deal appears to be tricky. According to the reports, he ‘doesn’t seem convinced’ of a switch to France.
It remains to be seen whether that is to do with Marseille specifically or just leaving the club on-loan in itself but it appears unlikely that he will be handed more opportunities at Arsenal should he stay there.
Tavares made 28 appearances in all competitions for Arsenal last term - 17 of those being starts but there were a few shaky performances. An FA Cup defeat to Nottingham Forest was arguably one of the low points for the defender last term with him on the end of an embarrassing substitution in the 35th minute of the game at the City Ground.
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Speaking Counter Attack Podcast earlier this summer, he admitted that his performance that day was not good enough but has been taken aback by the strong support network he found at the club following that incident. He said: “In Arsenal, you have more people that support you than haters.
“I could feel it myself. Fans send me good messages after the game when its not going well or when I didn’t play good. They feel more support than haters but you catch the haters more then but I was surprised because of the fans of Arsenal.”
He continued: “I was upset but with no reason because I was a disaster in that game. I could feel that.
“Nobody likes to come out in the first half, 35 minutes. I knew that I was playing so bad. When KT [Kieran Tierney] came in, I just dropped my gloves as my first reaction because I was upset - nothing against Mikel [Arteta] of course.
“I understood because I wasn’t playing enough to still be on the pitch.”
He earned his place back in the side after that though, starting in six out of Arsenal's last eight Premier League matches as they narrowly missed out on a place in the top four.
