Arsenal set for major windfall after smart deal

Tom Weber

• Updated: 11 Dec 2024 18:32 GMT
• 3 min read

Arsenal have included a 40 per cent sell-on clause in Nuno Tavares' Lazio deal, according to Italian media.

The Portuguese full-back is enjoying a brilliant campaign in Italy. Tavares joined Lazio in the summer on a season-long loan after repeatedly failing to establish himself at Arsenal.

Signed as a promising talent by the Gunners, Tavares has spent the past couple of seasons out on loan, first at Olympique de Marseille and then at Nottingham Forest.

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Neither club ultimately signed the 24-year-old permanently and he headed to Rome in the summer in hopes of getting his career back on track. And he has certainly managed to do that.

The attack-minded left-back has recorded a stunning eight assists in 10 Serie A games for Lazio, rivalling Arsenal star Bukayo Saka at the top of Europe's assist charts, though he has now missed a month of action due to a hamstring injury.

Arsenal set for Tavares windfall

Lazio negotiated a purchase option as part of the loan deal that will become an obligation should certain performance criteria be met, which looks almost guaranteed to happen at this point.

The fee Lazio will have to pay is quite modest, with Tavares only set to cost them €6 million. However, Arsenal could still secure a sizeable fee for the Portuguese in the future.

It was initially thought that Arsenal would only have a 20 per cent sell-on clause in the event of his move being made permanent, but Corriere dello Sport now claims that the north London giants will actually retain 40 per cent of Tavares' rights.

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This means that Arsenal will secure almost half of any future fee Lazio generate from the left-back's sale, though the club initially plan to keep him in Rome instead of immediately selling him on in the summer.

Given his form this season, Tavares will certainly be worth a lot more than just €6m in upcoming transfer windows.