Marseille have confirmed that Nuno Tavares will spend the 2022/23 season on loan at the Stade Velodrome.

The Portugal under-21 international moves to France having played 28 times for Arsenal during a debut season that was promising in parts but too often pockmarked with scatty moments.

He seemed to lose the confidence of manager Mikel Arteta in the second half of the season although the Spaniard had little choice but to play the £7 million signing when Kieran Tierney suffered an injury in the closing months.

Fast and physical, he has the raw ingredients to make it at the highest level but we’ve clearly decided that educating him in the heat of battle is too much of a risk.

Given the pursuit of Lisandro Martinez and the recent acquisition of Oleksandr Zinchenko, the writing has been on the wall for quite some time.

Interestingly, there was no shortage of suitors for Tavares’ special brand of chaos. Atalanta made enquiries, as did Brighton and several clubs in Spain.

The deal with Marseille is a straight loan so they won’t have an option to buy him next summer but given he’s under contract until 2025, we’re in no rush on that front.

Best of luck in France, Nuno.

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