Nuno Tavares, Arsenal agree to Nottingham Forest loan

Arsenal will loan Nuno Tavares to Nottingham Forest for the season, per multiple reports. Forest will pay a £2M loan fee and the deal includes a £12M buy option. The Gunners bought the Portuguese left back from Benfica for £6M in summer 2021. Tavares struggled to catch on at Arsenal because of his erratic play — he makes too many simple mistakes to fit in a Mikel Arteta system. There have also been rumors of discipline issues, both at Arsenal and last season on loan at Marseille.

It appeared as if Tavares was headed to Forest a few weeks ago, but for whatever reason, the move fell through at the time. Aston Villa and West Ham also inquired about acquiring his services, as did Werder Bremen and Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga. Forest revived their interest earlier this week, and the two clubs reached a deal.

Tavares has two years left on his Arsenal contract, so he’ll return to North London next summer should Forest chose not to activate their purchase option. In that case, the Gunners would look for a different permanent move for the 23-year old, hopefully with some solid Premier League performances to point to in attracting suitors.

It looks as if Tavares will be another relatively quick purchase-to-sale player transaction for the club that nets Arsenal a small profit. Not bad business for a player who couldn’t cut it at the Emirates.