After a year where **Arsenal**experienced their lowest ebbs in decades, the club was convinced it was time to rebuild. The board backed Mikel Arteta to the tune of over £140 million with transfers that included men like Martin Odegaard and Ben White, who are still integral to the plans to this day.
On the other hand, the Gunners gave up on their least expensive summer signing a long time ago. Nuno Tavares took his chance at asserting his self-belief on one of the biggest stages in football. That gamble has not paid off and he has taken his business back across the English Channel for good.
Tavares tests his talents abroad
Nuno Tavares earned his first senior minutes at **Benfica**in August 2019, impressing enough to earn a contract to tie his future to The Eagles until 2024. However, his impatience would get the best of him.
Full of confidence, he was prone to overexerting himself too much or suffering from lapses of focus— a trait that is not rare among players in their teenage years or early twenties with plenty of room for maturation in their game. But the fullback's fiery personality made an enemy out of his own club.
Tavares laid bare his thoughts that he should have held onto a starting spot in the eleven ahead of Álejandro Grimaldo. He could not shift the Spaniard out of the lineup in the eyes of **Jorge Jesus**during his second and final season in Lisbon. The final straw to break the back of the camel would be the surfacing of footage on social media that contained critiques of his teammate from his barber.
In that video, the 21-year-old declared his career would flourish— at **Benfica**or elsewhere if needed. A move to London put his faith in his capacities to the test under the scrutiny of the Premier League.
It was not the worst idea to throw his hat in the ring for a position that troubled **Arsenal**in their phase of reconstruction. Kieran Tierney took time out for three months of the previous campaign with illness and injury while a wantaway Ainsley Maitland-Niles moved on to **Roma**in the winter.
These were not the days that the team relied on the right side for its offensive thrust. Saka switched permanently to the role of a right winger months before, and attacks leaned leftward for inspiration.
That was a more ideal context for the fullback, and he arrived at the Emirates Stadium in the knowledge that his career would have truly taken flight with a surefire role for the Gunners.
Often troublesome, seldom terrific
Tavares was the first signing of the summer for a modest fee of £7.2 million: possibly a bargain buy for **Arsenal**in an active transfer window. He would have wait for his turn under his new manager.
At the end of August, **Arsenal**were infamously bottom of the table after a 2-0 loss to **Brentford**on opening day, a 2-0 defeat to **Chelsea,**and 5-0 thrashing at the hands of champions Man City. Though the team were short on numbers, it would not have been fair to chuck the left back into that cauldron and Tierney took his place. For the first five weeks, his only league appearances came off the bench.
His first league start arrived against Aston Villa in a 3-1 win in October, and five followed in a row.
Yet, there were worrying signals. First was a fatal infield dribble and misplaced pass in the din of **Anfield**as Diogo Jota jumped on a loose ball and doubled the lead for **Liverpool**on the way to a 4-0 rout. Then came an overcooked pass for Emile Smith Rowe away at **Old Trafford**that turned over possession as Cristiano Ronaldo bagged a brace in a 3-2 triumph for **Man United**in December.
It was enough for Arteta, who trusted Tierney when fit in the new year. The Gunners gained a groove without Tavares and his appearances set the stage for public showings of the manager's mean streak.
The Spaniard switched out Tavares after only 34 minutes as Nottingham Forest dumped his men out of the **FA Cup**third round. Months later, he was an early casualty in a 3-0 defeat to Crystal Palace. Neither game gave a good impression of the group, but it was clear that the left back was disposable.
His only goal for the club came in a 3-1 victory over the Red Devils in April 2022, proceeding a comical knee slide as he stumbled along the floor. It was a moment that could not capture him better: offensively minded and eager but too chaotic to calm the nerves of his manager in the dugout.
Trials and tribulations lead to Lazio
The summer of 2022 marked the moment that **Arsenal**ascended into the upper echelons of the Premier League once more. While they took the competition by storm, Arteta axed Tavares.
A loan to **Ligue 1**with **Olympique Marseille**left the left back to build his reputation out of sight. He fit the bill for the more offensive role of a wing-back, scoring six times in the season— double his tally of three goals in his first three seasons as a professional. But there would be no permanent exit.
He helped the Seleção reach the final four of the Under-21 **European Championship**in the summer of 2023, but it never looked like there was a possibility of a return to the first team in north London. Oleksandr Zinchenko had earned the faith of the manager, who had worked with him at Man City.
He returned to English shores before being shunted off to Nottingham Forest for a year long loan. A £12 million option to-buy clause was in the deal, but that transfer never looked likely. He received more minutes under his compatriot Nuno Espirito Santo after the start of the new year once he had replaced Steve Cooper but only played eight times for the club before the campaign came to a close.
He would then swap one capital city for another as a loan to Lazio meant his next destination was Rome. But it was third time lucky for the flying fullback, whose life in Italy started swimmingly.
He got two assists in his debut, a 2-2 draw with AC Milan, and added six to that tally before the beginning of November. Without any more to his name, he still finished the season in the top ten for the assist rankings in **Serie A**and had done enough to entertain a full time transfer to the club.
Arsenal have a new starlet who has stolen the show form left back. But his bullishness is something of a nod to Tavares, whose career could still blossom across the continent at only 25 years of age.