Deal Sealed: Nuno Tavares Heads to Serie A
Arsenal have agreed a deal to sell Portuguese left-back Nuno Tavares to Serie A club Lazio, ending his mixed stint with the Gunners. The deal is believed to be around €7-9 million permanent switch, with additional performance related bonuses and a sell on clause. The deal comes after a successful year-long loan which has convinced Lazio to exercise the option to buy.
Tavares has been with Lazio since last summer on a season-long loan. Though not a regular starter, his ability to get forward, whip in crosses and help attack from out wide was important for the club. In Serie A, he notched eight assists, a remarkable return for a defender, and was on the same plane as the key full-backs when it comes to attacking contribution in 2024/25. His performances led to other European clubs expressing their interest but Lazio quickly made the loan a permanent deal before the end of the season.
🚨 Arsenal will receive €9m fee from Lazio for Nuno Tavares as part of loan with obligation to buy clause.#AFC will also mantain a sell-on clause, while Albert Sambi-Lokonga returns to Arsenal after loan spell at Sevilla. pic.twitter.com/ycqUYy8WTJ
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) May 15, 2025
Lazio, who are looking to reinvent their squad to make them more competitive at home next season, had earmarked the 24-year-old as a crucial figure in their tactical overhaul. The club is still expected to hire a new manager after the departure of Maurizio Sarri, yet the recruitment team assured that Nuno Tavares fits the description of a modern wing-back system based on attack. It should be wrapped up this week and a medical organized in Rome, with an official unveiling later in the week.
This is welcome income for Arsenal as they gear up for a huge summer. With Oleksandr Zinchenko, Jakub Kiwior and Takehiro Tomiyasu already in place ahead of him at left-back, there was no place for Tavares in Mikel Arteta’s squad. Arsenal will avoid another fraught loan by agreeing a permanent departure now, and give themselves a clean break.
Closing the Arsenal Chapter
Arsenal signed Nuno Tavares from Benfica in 2021 for a fee believed to be £8 million, bringing in a rough-and-ready yet athletic and attack-minded full-back. The early signs were promising, particularly with Kieran Tierney sidelined with injury, but inconsistency and questionable decision making quickly started to weigh more heavily than potential.
In the 22 season, Marseille loaned him, and he netted six goals but struggled with defensive discipline. Arsenal believed the move would speed his development but worried about his positional sense and readiness to take a risk under the gun.
A loan to Nottingham Forest had been planned for 2023, but the move failed to materialise. Lazio’s interest in 2024 provided Tavares with a steadier chance, and he seized it. In a setup that allowed him to charge up and overlap, his confidence came back –– and along with it, the performances that initially caught the attention of Arsenal’s scouts years ago.
🔵🚆 8 assists in 8 Serie A games for Nuno Tavares since joining Lazio from Arsenal last summer, one more tonight.
Lazio president Lotito: “I will NOT sell Tavares, not even for €70m”. pic.twitter.com/K84YYF4n8J
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) October 31, 2024
With the permanent move now official, Arsenal will monitor his progress from afar, while Lazio look to integrate him further as they reshape their defense ahead of the new season.
Author’s Opinion
It is a classic win-win. With Lazio, Tavares has the opportunity to succeed in a system that plays to his strengths in attack without hurting him for his weaknesses, particularly those which are out of his control. The tactical focus of Serie A might be just what he needs to hone the defensive side of his game and build on some confidence.
For Arsenal, though, it makes sense to move on. Tavares never truly fit into Arteta’s high-control system and his profile was not what the manager wanted tactically. Rather than risk an elongated period of fruitless labour, they decided to be more pragmatic.
Those are win-wins for both clubs, and so perhaps for the player most of all.
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