‘Brilliant’ player claims Matteo Guendouzi ‘convinced’ him to leave Arsenal and join another club

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Arsenal have done some great work with outgoings this summer, and Matteo Guendouzi may have lent them a helping hand to close one deal.

Mikel Arteta’s side went into the market in search of new players and all eyes were on incomings.

However, Edu Gaspar had a lot of work to do with moving players on as well, and he has pushed a few men out of the door already.

One of them has now revealed that he had a chat with Guendouzi before leaving Arsenal.

Arsenal’s Nuno Tavares says Matteo Guendouzi convinced him to join Lazio

Nuno Tavares, technically, is still on Arsenal’s books, but that won’t be the case for a lot longer.

The Portuguese defender joined the Gunners from Benfica in the summer of 2021 and had a very good first six months at the club.

However, he had a disastrous second half of the campaign and was sent out on loan twice – first at Marseille and then at Nottingham Forest.

Everyone expected him to be sold this summer, but Serie A side Lazio have signed Tavares on a season-long loan deal. However, they are obligated to make that permanent in 2025.

The full-back has now been speaking about his decision to leave Arsenal and move to Lazio. He has revealed that Guendouzi convinced him during three different conversations.

He said in a press conference, as quoted by Lazio Press: “He (Guendouzi) had a fundamental role; we spoke three times, and he convinced me to make this choice.

“I want to play as much as possible because my goal is to win matches and trophies. I feel much better, I’m doing everything I can to get back as soon as possible.

“I think there is little time left until I return but I can’t say a date.”

READ MORE: The Arsenal win which perfectly encapsulated the chaos of Nuno Tavares, Ronaldo had no answer

Why Nuno Tavares is not an Arsenal flop

Arsenal signed Tavares for just £7 million from Benfica in the summer of 2021.

The Portuguese full-back showed a lot of promise at the time. He was ‘brilliant‘ for a few games and even kept then-first-choice left-back Kieran Tierney out of the side.

Yes, things have not worked out for him since, but Lazio are obligated to buy Tavares for around €7/8m (£5.9m/6.7m).

That’s just a slight loss on what Arsenal paid to sign him, but when you add the loan fees that Marseille and Nottingham Forest previously paid for him, you can argue that the Gunners have broken even.

So, Tavares should not be called a flop at Arsenal – he just came in at the wrong time and things did not work out for him. We wish him well at Lazio.