Arteta to decide on Arsenal star's future after "unsustainable" squad admission

19 August 2023 , 11:26

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Nuno Tavares spent last season out on loan (Image: Getty Images)

Nottingham Forest will step up their attempts to sign Nuno Tavares from Arsenal this week.

Discussions are advancing but the type of deal — loan or permanent — is still being determined. Forest are willing to pay £30million to take the Portuguese left-back, who has also attracted interest from Werder Bremen and Wolfsburg in Germany.

‌The player’s preference is to stay in the Premier League, though, meaning Steve Cooper’s side are in the driving seat. Arsenal agreed to let goalkeeper Alex Runarsson move to Cardiff on loan last week and a final decision on Tavares is expected imminently.

The full-back was signed in 2021 from Benfica but, after failing to establish himself in the Arsenal back four, was sent out on loan last term to Marseille. Despite being a regular in Ligue 1 it doesn't look as if there is an obvious route back into the starting XI at the Emirates.

Mikel Arteta has shown his ruthless side throughout his tenure in north London and infamously hooked Tavares at half-time during a damaging defeat at Crystal Palace two seasons ago. The defender was exposed and withdrawn at the interval as Arteta urged him to respond positively.

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It was reported last season however by French newspaper L'Equipe that the Spanish tactician and his staff were 'often annoyed with Tavares' behaviour' - which was a major contributing factor behind his loan exit. Arteta has also spoken about the need to trim his squad at the Emirates.

Around £200m has been spent on new arrivals and the Arsenal boss confessed the size of his playing group was "unsustainable" with the club looking to usher fringe players out the exit door with the likes of Cedric Soares and Nicolas Pepe still on the books as the transfer window nears its closure.

The Gunners played a three-by-30-minutes, behind-closed-doors friendly with Premier League new boys Luton on Thursday, which they won 3-0. Luton are without a game this weekend with their fixture with Burnley postponed because building works to bring Kenilworth Road up to Premier League level are not yet complete.

Goalkeeper David Raya played for 60 minutes following his move from Brentford and Oleksandr Zinchenko featured after returning from a calf injury. The Ukrainian’s return means he could feature tomorrow against Crystal Palace.

Tom Hopkinson