Aston Villa are weighing up a move for Arsenal left-back Nuno Tavares after talks with Nottingham Forest broke down.
The Portuguese defender, 23, was initially keen to move to Nottingham Forest but the deal collapsed after he decided to explore other clubs. Now, Aston Villa are reportedly exploring the conditions of a deal to sign Nuno Tavares, who looks set to leave the Emirates Stadium this summer.
Having joined Arsenal from Benfica in 2021, Tavares has enjoyed just one season playing at the Emirates Stadium before he was sent out on loan to Ligue 1 side Marseille. He had a strong 2022/23 season with Marseille, bagging six goals in 31 Ligue 1 appearances. However, the 23-year-old is surplus to requirements at Arsenal, and with a potential move to Forest now off, Villa are looking to pounce on him before the transfer window slams shut.
Unai Emery wants to sign a new left-back
Aston Villa have made some exciting moves in the summer transfer window, as Unai Emery looks to build on last season’s seventh-placed finish in the Premier League. Emery has now set his sights on signing a new left-back, given Alex Moreno remains sidelined with an injury and Lucas Digne continues to be linked with a move away to Saudi Arabia.
Villa have explored the possibility of signing Sevilla left-back Marcos Acuna, but agreeing personal terms with him is proving challenging. As a result, Emery has turned his focus to Tavares, despite clearly not being regarded highly by Mikel Arteta and the Arsenal hierarchy.
Tavares is well down the pecking order of left-backs at Arsenal. With Oleksandr Zinchenko, Kieran Tierney and Takehiro Tomiyasu ahead of him, the former Portuguese under-21 international is unlikely to get much game time under Arteta this season. Thus, it will be best for the left-back to leave the north London club and join Villa, where he will get opportunities to play and knuckle down his position in Emery’s first XI.
It will be interesting to see how this story develops, as Emery wants to plug the gaps in his squad to challenge all competitions this season.
I am Rohan Sengupta from one of the busiest cities in India, Mumbai. A Journalism graduate with a keen interest in sports, football is something I simply cannot live without and writing, discussing and analyzing the game is what I do 24*7.