According to Portuguese outlet A Bola, Arsenal are on the verge of completing the signing of Nuno Tavares from Benfica.
The Gunners have been on the lookout for a backup left-back for about six months now. Injuries have been cruel on Kieran Tierney and the fact that we don’t have a natural backup is a huge worry.
Arsenal made a backup left-back a priority and it looks like we are set to complete a deal very quickly. Tavares will soon be a Gunner and if the report is to be believed, his wages will go up considerably.
Nuno Tavares will triple his wages at Arsenal
Tavares, still only 21, wasn’t on a big contract at all at Benfica. He earned a measly £4,900-a-week there (Salary Sport), but that is now set to change thanks to Edu’s five-year contract offer.
The report claims that Arsenal have agreed to triple Tavares’ wages and his signing could be announced later today. The Gunners will pay Benfica £8.5 million for the defender in total, £1.75 million of which is subject to bonuses.
Tavares should be able to report for pre-season training when the players return next week. It will be interesting to see how he fares in the Premier League, especially considering that he doesn’t really have a lot of experience in top-flight football just yet.
Read more: 21-year-old to join Arsenal ‘in the next few hours’; will sign a five-year deal
He has played just 41 times for Benfica’s senior team so far in his career. That is worrying, but he will only be a backup to Tierney, and if he can watch and learn from the Scotsman, he will turn out to be a fine player for us.
Receive a digest of our best Arsenal content each week direct to your mailbox
