“They aren’t crazy”: Journalist defends Arsenal decision to axe £8m man when criticising him

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Back in July, Arsenal decided to loan Nuno Tavares to Marseille just one year after signing him from Benfica in a deal worth £8m.

The Portugal Under-21 international endured a turbulent debut campaign at the Emirates Stadium, showing glimpses of his talent while also experiencing worrying dips in form.

Mikel Arteta even substituted Tavares before half-time in a 1-0 FA Cup defeat to Nottingham Forest, while also being filmed screaming at the left-back in Amazon’s All or Nothing documentary.

Now, the Spaniard’s decision to loan the 22-year-old and replace him with Oleksandr Zinchenko has been justified by French media.

What’s the story?

Well, it looked as if Arteta and Edu had made a mistake at Arsenal.

Tavares was labelled as a revelation by French media outlets after scoring three goals in his first four Ligue 1 appearances, although his form has fizzled out.

Now, Stéphane Guy – a journalist for RMC Sport – has claimed that Marseille are starting to see his limitations.

He said: “It’s like Tavares. We have seen in recent weeks the limits of this player. We have also seen his qualities, he has some, but if Arsenal are loaning him, it’s because they aren’t crazy.”

By the sounds of it, Tavares has started to slow down in France after a promising start to life at Marseille.

Nuno Tavares could leave Arsenal

Of course, it is only a loan deal, although Arsenal fans may have already seen the last of Tavares.

As aforesaid, Arteta wasn’t the biggest fan of the Portuguese defender last season, and the youngster himself even requested that Marseille were given an option to buy him in 2023 as part of the loan agreement.

Arsenal declined, although we feel that was to avoid allowing Marseille to have a fixed price agreed before seeing how Tavares fared in France.

Arteta and Edu have since signed Zinchenko to compete with Kieran Tierney, both of whom are among the best left-backs in the Premier League.

Therefore, it may already be curtains for Tavares at the Emirates Stadium.