Revealed: Arsenal 'refused' Nuno Tavares a key transfer request
Karan Tejwani
- 5 Sept 2022 14:40 BST
- 3 min read
Arsenal loaned out Nuno Tavares to Marseille over the summer transfer window but didn’t grant one particular request the player had when the deal was agreed.
Tavares only joined Arsenal in the summer of 2021 but failed to nail down a place in the first team for the Gunners, and has now been loaned out to the Ligue 1 side.
He has had a fine start in France, scoring three goals in six matches for them, all of which have come in Ligue 1, and he’s proving his quality in the south coast.
He has now spoken about his time at the Emirates Stadium, and the clause in his loan agreement that Arsenal refused to insert when the deal was made.
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"At Arsenal, I do not know if it was a problem of competition with Kieran Tierney. And for me, that's not even the point. I came to Marseille to finally be able to play in my position,” the Portuguese said.
“By signing with Marseille, I wanted to have an option to buy, but Arsenal refused. With my agents, we always wanted this purchase option, but not Arsenal. Now I'm at Marseille, and with or without an option, I'm happy.”
The former Benfica man continued, believing that Marseille will give him the chance to play in more competitions, and that he wouldn’t have been used as much at Arsenal: “At Arsenal, I would have probably only played in the cup.”
Only Neymar and Kylian Mbappé have scored more Ligue 1 goals this season than Nuno Tavares. pic.twitter.com/SyNxmv5pDl
— Zach Lowy (@ZachLowy) August 29, 2022
He added: “I came to Marseille to play in my position, in the Champions League, in the league and in the cup [competition]. Marseille gave me this opportunity.”
Tavares played 28 times last season but faced competition from Kieran Tierney, and with Oleksandr Zinchenko now having signed for Arsenal, the fight for places would’ve been tougher.
The left-back still has three years left on his contract at Arsenal and a return to the Gunners next season will see him enter a fight for a first-team place yet again.
