Arsenal could have earned £23m more, sale of player with 'incredible potential' a bargain now
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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 stamped 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 Gunners blunder.
Now, the former Portugal Under-21 international is no stranger 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 deficiencies and ruled out a permanent switch – 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-back in Europe’s major 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
Tuttomercatoweb pose the question; is Nuno Tavares 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 negotiations collapsed after Arsenal demanded a purchase clause of £30 million.
Two years on, and with Atalanta’s first-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 not 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 the 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 Arsenal were willing to accept a knock-down fee 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 whom we now have to create a path.
"He 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."
