Arsenal man outed as ‘unreliable’ player with ‘so many shortcomings’ before Arteta ‘cashes in’

Lewis Oldham
Arsenal defender Tavares

A French journalist has claimed that Arsenal defender Nuno Tavares is an “unreliable player” who has “so many shortcomings”.

The Gunners paid around £8m to sign the left-back from Benfica before the 2021/22 campaign.

He played regularly for Arsenal that term as Kieran Tierney missed much of the campaign through injury.

This came too soon for Tavares as he often struggled defensively when he was operated at left-back. Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher even claimed that he was largely to blame for Arsenal missing out on a place in the top four.

Tavares joined Ligue 1 outfit Marseille on loan ahead of this season. He has mostly played as a wing-back this term and their manager – Igor Tudor – suggested earlier this season that he can “become one of the world’s best”.

He may backtrack on that statement if he was asked again, though. Tavares has come under fire for his performances in recent months.

RMC Sport journalist Florent Germain has now claimed that Tavares is a “frustrating case” as he has “enormous potential” but he is hampered by having “many shortcomings”.

“Nuno Tavares is a frustrating case because we see that he has potential,” Germain said (via Sport Witness).

“For the leaders, in the balance for and against, at the start of the season, Tavares was seen as a good shot. But for some time, with the feedback that I have, they have told themselves that he is too inconsistent and that it is not going to work out.

“That is what is frustrating. You feel the enormous potential in this player and we know that it’s a difficult position to sign someone who gives you so much offensively, but there are so many shortcomings and he’s an unreliable player.”

Speaking earlier this month, journalist Ben Jacobs claimed it’s “very unlikely that Tavares will play for Arsenal again”.

“With Tavares, I think it’s very unlikely that he’ll play for Arsenal again,” Jacobs told TEAMtalk. “That’s just a positional kind of thing.

“Zinchenko, Tierney, at the moment, is still there, Tomiyasu there, as well.

“And the thing with Tavares is that Arsenal can probably, if not definitely get a profit off him because he’s only 23 years of age and the fee that Arsenal paid in 2021 for Tavares was only £8m.

“That means that if they do choose to sell him, they’ll be able to cash in and make a tidy profit, which will reflect well on their books, on Financial Fair Play and provide an opportunity to clear some squad space in order to no doubt bolster in other positions.”

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