Arsenal and Marseille have reached an agreement on a loan deal for Nuno Tavares, which will not contain a buy option.
According to Fabrizio Romano, Arsenal and Marseille have agreed on a loan deal for Nuno Tavares. The Portuguese left-back is now pencilled in for medical tests on Friday. The season-long move will not contain a buy option.
Marseille and Arsenal have been involved in plenty of talks in the close season, with the French side fruitlessly trying to sign William Saliba. While Mikel Arteta remains adamant about keeping the young French defender, the Spanish manager is open to temporarily allowing Nuno Tavares to depart.
Despite reports suggesting Tavares was uninterested in joining Marseille, the Ligue 1 giants happen to be his next destination. The Gunners hope the left-back learns plenty at the French side and has a similar growth as Saliba’s from last season.
Marseille have now reached an agreement with Arsenal for Tavares and will take the left-back on a season-long loan deal. There’s no presence of a buy-option in the contract, as the Gunners remained adamant about not having a clause to purchase him outright. The club’s president was in London to hold talks, which was earlier thought to be another attempt to sign Saliba.
Nuno Tavares’ set to join Olympique Marseille, medical tests on Friday. Arsenal and OM have full agreement on loan deal, no buy option included. ?? #OM
Final check to the contracts in the afternoon then it will be signed. Here we go. #AFC pic.twitter.com/DIweKrmIIg
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) July 28, 2022
The arrival of Oleksandr Zinchenko ended any slim hopes Tavares had to feature regularly next season. Despite playing regularly during Arsenal’s pre-season tour of the US, the Gunners had long considered allowing the player to depart temporarily to aid his development further.
Tavares started the previous season brightly, having made a £7 million move from Benfica. However, his performances tailed off in the latter part of the season, which cost Arsenal a few valuable points. With his imminent departure, Arteta will rely upon Zinchenko and Kieran Tierney as his preferred options at left-back.
Tavares will now hope to make an impact in France with Marseille and leave a lasting impression. On the plus side, the young left-back could get the opportunity to play in the Champions League, and ironically he will be competing with former Arsenal star Sead Kolasinac for a place in the team.
The overall move is designed to allow Arsenal to keep hold of the player and his future value. Tavares has a contract with the Gunners until 2025, with an option of an additional twelve months, and with some good performances in France, the north Londoners would be hoping to see a massive jump in his valuation.
