‘We may never see him again’: Kevin Campbell ‘fears’ for £7m Arsenal player

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Kevin Campbell has stated that he ‘fears’ for Arsenal defender, Nuno Tavares, who ‘we may never see again’ after his latest outing for the club, as he told the Highbury Squad.

Following Kieran Tierney’s injury, which could keep the Scotsman out of action for the rest of the season, it has put more emphasis on Tavares to deliver, as Campbell made it clear that his confidence needs to be ‘built up’.

On Monday night, the £7 million Arsenal signing (Guardian) started his side’s 3-0 defeat at Crystal Palace – he was hooked at half-time.

Getting subbed early is difficult to take for any player, but with Tavares, it happened in the first half against Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup and at half-time at Selhurst Park.

All of this is just putting more pressure on the 22-year-old, as Campbell made it clear that the young kid needs picking up.

“His confidence is low, that’s for sure,” said Campbell. “As you said, you fear for him because we may never see him again.

“Solely, you were concerned about where he was mentally. Sometimes, when you keep falling off the horse, you have to keep getting back on it. 

“He’s got to gain some confidence from somewhere. Let’s be honest, playing well, he’s the best man for that job. We have to get him playing. Why not give him another go?

“I would rather try to build him. Build his confidence up. He hasn’t been around the first team for a long time, so he needs to be built up. He’s not going to hit the ground running where he was.” 

Well, Mikel Arteta has some big calls to make regarding Tavares and whether he remains in his XI.

Given that he hasn’t lasted more than 45 minutes during the past few games Arteta has started him, it probably tells you all that you need to know.

Granit Xhaka has been used at left-back before, whilst Cedric Soares, who started at right-back against Palace, is another player able to deploy the left channel.

Then there is someone like Bukayo Saka, albeit more attack-minded, he broke onto the scene at left-back and is another option for the Gunners.

Either way, this call could be huge in how the north London club perform from now until the end of the season because it doesn’t look like Tierney will return.