Juventus interested in Nuno Tavares?
The progress of Arsenal loanee Nuno Tavares at Olympique Marseille this season has apparently been followed closely by Juventus, and according to Italian journalist Gianluca Di Marzio, the Serie A giants are now considered as potential suitors for the Portuguese left-back.
Tavares started brightly at Arsenal after joining the club last year from Benfica. A couple of fine displays at the start had plenty of people thinking he should be starting regularly ahead of Kieran Tierney. However, the belief in the 22-year-old soon wavered and vanished completely, as his form dropped considerably with each appearance as the season progressed. In the end, manager Mikel Arteta obviously didn’t consider him to be good enough to be warming the bench, let alone starting.
But given his age, it made absolutely no sense to just give up on Tavares, and a loan somewhere where he would be playing regularly to gain invaluable experience was the only logical solution. His time in France has so far been a huge success.
Tavares has so far made a total of 19 appearances in all competitions for Marseille, 13 in Ligue 1 where he only missed one match through suspension, and all six of the Champions League group stage. He has scored three goals for Igor Tudor’s side.
At Juventus, coach Massimiliano Allegri mostly arranges his team in a 3-5-2 shape, and Tavares is probably viewed as a player meant to push Filip Kostic for the left wing-back position. Tavares plays a lot like the Serbia international, looking more confident when attacking than defending, and it could be argued that such a role suits him better than that of a left-back in a back line of four. Also, it’s important to note that Kostic is 30, and won’t be particularly fresh after his adventure with Serbia at the World Cup in Qatar.
As for Tavares, his contract with the Gunners runs until the summer of 2025, which means the club would likely be able to get a nice fee for his services at the end of this season. But when that moment comes, it will probably come down to whether the player himself is ready to fight for his place in Arteta’s squad, or seeks for a way out.
