A look at Arsenal’s new signing Nuno Tavares
A look at Arsenal’s new signing Nuno Tavares
With just over one month to go
until the new season, Arsenal are closing in their first summer signing of 2021
– Nuno Tavares.
The 21 year-old has been on Edu
and Mikel Arteta’s radar for some time now, with the club moving swiftly once
they became aware Southampton and Napoli were also interested.
The deal for the Benfica
defender is expected to take up to £8.5million out of the transfer kitty.
But who is he?
His career so far
Tavares, a left-back by trade,
has made 25 senior appearances for the Lisbon club over the past two years.
Although born in the Portuguese
capital, he is actually of Cape Verdean descent, and has already been capped by
Portugal’s youth teams, making two appearances for the under-21s and 14 for the
under-19 side.
He fits the remit of signing
younger players to develop as an understudy, rather than perform for the first
XI from the first instance.
Tavares is composed in
possession, overlaps aggressively and enjoys being able to sustain attacks, in
a similar mould to Kieran Tierney, who he will deputise for when required by
manager Mikel Arteta.
He is also two-footed, a major
plus point considering the style the manager wants to impose on the team, and
has occasionally featured as a right-back in the past.
The Portuguese defender stands
6ft tall, and as a result is able to impose himself against his direct opponent
in the air.
He is also happy to play out
from the back and beat an aggressive opposition press, something that will have
been a big plus point for Arteta.
Arsenal fans may also remember
that Tavares has already featured against the Gunners in his young career.
He came off the bench in the
Europa League tie between the two teams last season and was actually beaten by
some clever wing play by Bukayo Saka, when crossing for Aubameyang to score
Arsenal’s third of the game.
Why sign him now?
With another left back – Sead
Kolasinac – looking to be heading out of North London this summer, Tavares will
add much needed depth to the position.
Arteta even had to field Granit
Xhaka in the role last season when Tierney was injured, and with the Swiss
midfielder also on his way out, a quality addition at left back was always on
the shopping list.
Although not an exact replica of
the player Tierney has become, the addition of Tavares will offer a more
like-for-like replacement to the manager.
With the Scottish full-back
having recently battled injuries and had an extended season due to his
involvement in Euro 2020, there is no doubt he will need at rest at times over
the course of next season.
When that does happen, Tavares’
arrival ensures Arsenal have another high quality option at left-back, and
won’t need to alter the playing philosophy or tactical approach to accommodate
him.
As his birthday was January
2000, he will also be classed as an under-21 player in his first season and not
take up a place in the 25-man squad registered to the Premier League.
Another plus-point is that this
is a low-risk transfer. Tavares is young, reasonably priced and even if things
don’t work out perfectly for him at the Emirates, he should still have sell-on
value.
In addition, by moving ahead of
Napoli and Southampton the club have secured him for a decent transfer fee. Had
they waited another year and seen Tavares continue to catch the eye for Benfica
in European competition, the deal may have become far trickier than necessary.
Expect Tavares to have a
positive impact when he does appear for the first-team next season.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
