Arsenal in talks with Benfica over £7m Tavares

Charles Watts

Arsenal in talks with Benfica over £7m Tavares image

Arsenal are in talks with Benfica over defender Nuno Tavares.

Goal has been told that discussions for the left-back are ongoing, with sources in both Portugal and England confirming Arsenal's interest in the player.

The 21-year-old made 19 appearances in all competitions for Benfica last season and is being viewed as back-up for Kieran Tierney, who signed a new long-term contract last week.

What is the latest?

Talks between Arsenal and Benfica are understood to be progressing, with discussions centred around a price of around £7 million ($9.72m).

Nothing has been agreed yet, with talks continuing, but Arsenal are hopeful of getting a deal done for the young full-back, who is also attracting interest from other clubs across Europe.

The Gunners have prioritised bringing in another left-back this summer as cover for Tierney and have previously looked at the likes of Ryan Bertrand and Patrick van Aanholt.

Tavares made a brief substitute appearance against the Gunners last season during Benfica’s 3-2 defeat in the Europa League knockout stages.

What sort of left-back is Tavares?

Tavares is viewed as a strong attacking left-back, who has excellent pace and athletic qualities.

He is prone to the occasional error defensively, however, so that would be an area Arsenal would look to develop him should he complete a move to north London.

With Tierney the undisputed first choice at left-back, whoever is brought in this summer has to accept that their game time will be limited, especially with Arsenal having failed to secure European football for the coming season.

Tavares has scored once and contributed four assists in 30 appearances for Benfica since making his debut in August 2019.

Further reading

Charles Watts

Charles Watts Photo

Charles Watts is Goal's Arsenal correspondent, covering the Gunners home, away and abroad. He joined Goal in April 2019 having spent the previous three years covering Arsenal for football.london. He has become a trusted and respected journalist on the Arsenal scene - regularly appearing on media outlets such as talkSPORT, Love Sport and SiriusXM and has also been a guest on Arsenal's official TV channel.