Nuno Tavares: Arsenal loanee admits he wanted option to buy in Marseille deal
By Tom Gott
Nuno Tavares has confessed that he wanted the chance to leave Arsenal permanently as part of his loan to Marseille.
The left-back joined Marseille on a one-year loan this summer but his contract does not include a permanent clause, so he will return to the Emirates at the end of the campaign.
Speaking to RMC Sport, Tavares admitted he wanted Marseille to have the option to sign him permanently and was left disappointed when Arsenal refused to insert such a clause into the deal.
"At Arsenal, I do not know if it was a problem of competition with Kieran Tierney, but for me, that's not even the point," he said.
"I came to Marseille to finally be able to play in my position. When signing with OM, I wanted to have an option to buy, but Arsenal refused. With my agents, we always wanted this purchase option, but Arsenal didn't.
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"Now I'm at OM, and with or without an option, I'm happy. At Arsenal, I would have probably only played in the cup.
"I came to Marseille to play in my position, in the Champions League, in the league and in the cup [competition]. Marseille gave me this opportunity.”
Competition for minutes at Arsenal has since grown following the arrival of Oleksandr Zinchenko from Manchester City, with the Ukraine international now battling with Tierney for the starting role under Mikel Arteta.
As for Tavares, who started 13 Premier League games last season, he has struck three goals in just six outings for his new employers but will return to Arsenal next summer for further talks on his future. The Portugal international's contract runs until 2025.