Mikel Arteta - Arsenal
Old loan players become compliments when they start winning in a new league. The praise is for the present. The sting is for the club that sold them.
Left-backs who can use both feet and run are supposed to be easy to keep. Mindset is the part that does not show on a scouting video.
A metaphor about an inheritance is a manager’s way of saying talent was wasted. It is also a way of saying he thinks he can still save it.
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Gennaro Gattuso says Nuno Tavares has everything required to play for Real Madrid if the mentality is right. The Portugal left-back left Arsenal for Lazio on a permanent deal 12 months ago after an £8million move from Benfica in 2021 and loans at Marseille and Nottingham Forest.
Gattuso told DAZN: “I’ve always said that Tavares is worthy of Real Madrid. He feels like someone who lost his parents young, received a big inheritance, and in five years it went up in smoke. This is a player who ought to be at Real Madrid. He’s got everything it takes, he has pace, right foot, left foot.”
He added: “He is unusual and after a match he needs his time to recover, but he’s a good lad. You need to get into his head and make him understand. He knows he has talent and could’ve had 10-12 years at Real Madrid with his qualities. You’ve just got to get him to understand.”
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Tavares made 28 appearances in Lazio’s difficult ninth-placed season under Maurizio Sarri. Under Gattuso he has started all but one of the opening Serie A games, with Lazio top after three wins and a draw. Venezia away is next.
At Arsenal he never settled under Mikel Arteta. One mixed first season, then the loans. Riccardo Calafiori and Piero Hincapié now occupy the left side of the title-winning defence. Myles Lewis-Skelly is the academy option. Tavares is not coming back.
Gattuso’s clip will play well among supporters who thought the 26-year-old was discarded too quickly. It will play less well as a transfer inquest. Arteta’s full-backs have been chosen for control and reliability. Tavares was always the other type: raw pace, both feet, and a head that needed managing.
Worthy of Madrid is a coach talking up his own player. The inheritance line is the more interesting part. Five years after Benfica, Tavares is starting in Rome and being told he could have been in Spain. Arsenal have the title. Lazio have the compliment.
Arsenal huddle
Arsenal huddle