What a loan Nuno Tavares is enjoying away from Arsenal.
The Gunners allowed their Portuguese left-back join Marseille on a season-long basis for the 2022-23 campaign.
With Arsenal adding Oleksandr Zinchenko to their ranks, there was little point in the 22-year-old staying in North London this season.
And what a time he’s having over in France.
On Sunday, Tavares scored in a 3-0 victory away to OGC Nice, with Nicolas Pepe – also on loan from Arsenal – on the losing side.
Not only that, but this was the former Benfica defender’s third goal in four Ligue 1 outings.
Among his teammates in France is Matteo Guendouzi, sold by Mikel Arteta earlier in the summer after a two-year exile from the Spaniard’s senior squad.
Here’s what Tavares messaged Guendouzi on Instagram after Sunday’s victory:
Tavares cost Arsenal only £7 million last summer and it’ll be fascinating to see what kind of player he returns as next year.
Obviously after a very difficult first season in North London, a long-term position under Arteta might not be possible any longer, particularly in light of Zinchenko’s start to life at the Emirates Stadium.
But clearly there is something about Tavares, something very interesting indeed.
In an attacking sense, he remains a massive problem for opposition defences and if he can improve at the other end of the field, perhaps that’s the key to salvaging his Arsenal career.
Providing he wants to.
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