Former Liverpool defender and Sky Sports pundit Jamie Carragher believes that Nuno Tavares may have "cost" Arsenal a top four finish last season. The left-back joined the club last summer from Benfica for roughly £7million, bringing plenty of promise to his new team.
While he was often an understudy to Kieran Tierney, the 22-year-old did get his opportunity when the Scotsman was eventually sidelined with a number of injuries. The Portuguese youth international managed 28 first-team appearances during the course of the campaign, showing plenty going forward, but struggling when defending.
This led to several occasions where Tavares was substituted at half-time, with one of Granit Xhaka, Takehiro Tomiyasu or Cedric Soares being forced to fill in on the flank. It was a shuffle that caused all sorts of problems for Mikel Arteta, whose lack of squad depth became a problem and the balance in the team was impacted.
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The Spaniard has since looked to address this, bringing in Oleksandr Zinchenko from Manchester City for roughly £30million. The Ukraine international can play at left-back and in midfield, adding both quality and depth options to the squad.
As a result, Tavares has left on loan to Marseille, looking to recreate the feat of William Saliba, who impressed there last season to earn his spot in the first-team at Arsenal. He will be hoping to improve upon aspects of his game, having struggled last season, something Jamie Carragher believes was "costly" in the race for top four.
Speaking on Sky Sports, via the Metro, he said: "Nuno Tavares has gone out on loan, I saw. I think if they had a better left-back, then you probably would be in the top four now. I don’t like singling one player out, but I just think he cost you in certain games.
"I remember that game at Crystal Palace last season, it was on Monday Night Football and I said on TV: “He has to come off at half-time”. I think he [Mikel Arteta] put Granit Xhaka at left-back in the end."
It may have been a decision that did impact the Gunners, though both the club and Tavares will be looking to put that behind them to continue their development, albeit on different paths for the upcoming season.
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