da supremo： Arsenal will now "focus on departures" after spending over £200m on new players this summer, with full-back Nuno Tavares one of those likely to leave as he is no longer a part of "Mikel Arteta's longer-term plans" per Sky Sports reporter Dharmesh Sheth.
Is Nuno Tavares leaving Arsenal this summer?
da casino： Arsenal have been massively splashing the cash so far this summer to ensure they avoid the same capitulation they suffered at the end of last season next year.
The Gunners started their summer business by signing German international Kai Havertz from cross-city rivals Chelsea in a deal worth an estimated £65m – at the time, the second most expensive signing in the club's history.
Following that, Arteta finally landed his number one target, West Ham United captain Declan Rice, who swapped the East End for Islington in a deal worth an eye-watering £105m, a new record for a British player.
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The Premier League runners-up then added the positionally versatile and exciting Dutch defender Jurrien Timber to their ranks from Amsterdam giants Ajax – a deal that cost the club a cool £34m.
In all, Arsenal have spent around £204m, so it makes sense that they would likely now turn their attention to selling some of their players before adding anymore to the squad and, according to Sky Sports reporter Dharmesh Sheth, Portuguese under-21 international Tavares is one of those names likely to leave.
He explained the situation on Sky Sports News (via Football Daily), saying:
"At the moment, because they have spent £200m on Declan Rice, on Jurrien Timber and on Kai Havertz, the focus is now on departures. There are a lot of players that could potentially be leaving Arsenal in this transfer window.
"Nuno Tavares is one of those players, we don't think he's a part of Mikel Arteta's longer-term plans. Wolfsburg and Werder Breman are both interested. They bought him for about £8m I think, and I think they would want around €15m (£13m) for him in return. So one to watch Nuno Tavares, among a number of players at Arsenal."
How much does Nuno Tavares earn?
The dynamic full-back is currently on a weekly wage of £27,000 at Arsenal, or £1.4m a year, making him the only the 31st highest earner, which given his relative unimportance to Arteta's new vision of the club, sounds about right.
The 23-year-old spent last season out on loan with Ligue 1 giants Marseille and while he started well enough, he couldn't totally nail down a starting spot on the French Riviera, starting just 23 games in the league and making a further eight appearances off the bench.
That said, he was still able to put in some solid performances for Les Olympiens during his time at the Stade Velodrome, scoring six goals, taking 2.1 shots per game, winning one Man-of-the-Match award and averaging a match rating of 6.86, per WhoScored.
He has always been a better attacker than a defender, and his underlying numbers make that abundantly clear, suggesting that he could be well worth a gamble for a highly aggressive team.
According to FBref, which compares players in a similar position across Europe's top five leagues, the Lisbon-born dynamo sits in the top 1% of fullbacks for total shots, the top 2% for successful take-ons and progressive passes received, the top 3% for non-penalty expected goals, the top 6% for non-penalty goals and touches in the opposition's penalty area, and the top 7% for progressive carries, all per 90.
While it didn't quite work for him in north London, with his unbelievable attacking threat, he could run riot in the Bundesliga for either Werder Bremen or Wolfsburg.