may have struggled during his first season in the Premier League with Arsenal, but he is earning rave reviews on loan at Marseille in Ligue 1.
The 22-year-old arrived in north from Benfica last year and got plenty of opportunities at left-back due to injuries to Kieran Tierney.
The Portuguese full-back made 22 Premier League appearances, and while he wasn’t a complete flop, he did struggle to adapt to the Premier League and looked below par in his defensive duties.
With the arrival of Oleksandr Zinchenko at Arsenal, Tavares has moved away on loan and he may still have a future at the Emirates if he continues to impress with the French club.
His attacking abilities continue to shine, with three goals in just seven Ligue 1 appearances already and his manager is predicting a lot more attacking threat over the rest of the season.
‘He sometimes doesn’t even realise his qualities,’ said Marseille boss Igor Tudor. ‘It is so hard to follow him when he accelerates.
‘If he continues at this pace, he risks tormenting more than one Ligue 1 defence.’
There had been speculation that Tavares would leave on a permanent move this summer but Mikel Arteta was insistent that it would only be a loan deal for the young star, who he saw potential in last season.
‘For Nuno’s development, I think it’s going to be really important [playing regularly],’ said Arteta. ‘Obviously, we have recruited Oleks in that position and we have Kieran as well, which are two really strong players in that position, and we believe that Nuno’s best solution was to do that.’
Arsenal legend Thierry Henry has also praised Gunners striker Folarin Balogun, who also finds himself on loan in Ligue 1 and has scored five goals in seven Ligue 1 games so far with Reims.
‘I’m really happy for him because in general English players don’t go abroad,’ Henry told Amazon Prime. ‘Normally players are loaned either to another Premier League side or in the Championship.
‘He’s a very English-style player who likes to run down the channels but he was missing something, which was his finishing.
‘He’s now starting to score goals regularly and I’m happy for that – happy he has gone abroad.
‘It’s especially so considering he is a Londoner, in general Londoners struggle to leave London.
‘When I heard he was coming to France, it made me think he has a refreshing mindset.’
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