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Arsenal could have earned £23m more on ‘incredible’ player they sold for bargain fee
Arsenal’s transfer business has earned plenty of admiration recently but – missing out on a £30 million windfall – not even the Premier League challengers get it right every time.
When agreeing to move on from one of the less successful signings of the Edu Gaspar era over the summer, Arsenal rubber st🌊ampꦺed an initial loan deal which, come the end of the season, could be turned into a £7.5 million permanent transfer.
On the evidence of the last few weeks, however, the deal which took Nuno Tavares to Lazio could go down as a rare Gunnersꦜ blunder.
Now, the former Portugal Under-21 international is no straও🤡nger to false dawns.
Tavares flew out ♛of the blocks during his loan spell at Marseille back in 2022. Sparking excitement amongst an Arsenal fanbase who, at the time, may have felt that he still had a future under Mikel Arteta.
So given how that French stint ended – Marseille grew tired of Tavares’ defensive ꦰdeficieꦫncies and ruled out𒉰 a permanent switch 𒆙– The Gunners can be forgiven for taking a ‘wait and see’ approach to Tavares’ latest flying start.
But the narrative over in Italy, as Tavares adds to a tally of assists better than any full-b♛ack in Europe’s maj🧔or leagues, is that Arsenal are not the only club who may soon be regretting how things panned out for the one-time Benfica prospect.
Lazio loanee Nuno Tavares could have earned Arsenal £30m
pose the question; is Nuno Tav🐭ares the signing of the summer in Serie A?
Taking his tally to five assists from five games in Sunday’s 2-1 win over Empoli, Lazio’s gain is certainly proving to be Atalanta’s loss. TMW report that the Europa League holders came close to signing Tavares 🌠on a loan-to-buy deal themselves back in 2022.
The negoti💜❀ations collapsed after Arsenal demanded a purchase clause of £30 million.
Two years on, and with Atalanta’s fir𝓀st-choice left-back Davide Zappacosta not getting any younger at the age of 32, an admittedly expensive deal to bring Tavares to Bergamo is now being framed as an opportunity missed.
Tavares, after all, is still only 24. Eight years Zappacosta’s junior🅷, he has no🌌t even reached his peak.
A scary thought indeed, presuming Tavares can discover at Lazio�꧂� the sort of consistency he lacked at Marseille.
Inter Milan wanted Tavares before eventual Serie A arrival
TMW add that reigning Serie A champions Inter Milan showed an interest in Tavares back in 2023. That was before t🍸he Nerazzuri brought in Carlos Augusto from Monza. Again, Arsenal’s valuation꧋ had Inter pursuing more affordable alternatives.
Lazio, then, have benefitted greatly from circumstance.🅺
The fact that Tavares was not snapped up sooner. And the fact that Ar𝓰senal were willing to accept a knock-down fꦯee on the back of his injury-hit spell at Nottingham Forest in 2023/24.
“Tavares is a boy who has great potential. It is no coincidence that he was an Arsenal player,” Marco Baroni told a press conference in September, the Lazio boss delighted with Nuno Tavares’ 💙impact in Rome. “Beyond this, he is a💙 boy for wh🏅om we now have to create a path.
“Hꦏe is a boy who has great potential. I am convinced that we will create the right fabric and structure for him to give his best and emerge, because he has incredible potential.”