Atalanta Hoping To Seal Loan Deal For Arsenal Defender

Atalanta representatives have travelled to London, as they look to seal the loan move of Nuno Tavares.

The 22-year-old left back, who joined Arsenal last summer from Benfica, has been linked heavily with the Italian side since the Gunners signed Oleksandr Zinchenko a week ago.

According to reports, Atalanta have reached an agreement with Nuno Tavares, and he would be happy to join them for the season.

However they have not yet agreed a deal with Arsenal, hence why they are travelling to London in order to finalise the deal, according to Sportwitness.

Sportitalia’s Alfredo Pedullà has claimed that Tavares is a ‘concrete goal’ for Atlanta this window, after losing their former left-back Robin Gosens to Inter Milan in January.

The loan is expected to be a dry loan, with no option for a future purchase.

Arsenal want to keep the left-back for their long-term future.

Atalanta want the deal completed as quickly as possible, so he is settled into the squad for their first game on August 13^th.

Due to Zinchenkos signing, Tavares has to 3^rd choice left back.

Therefore Arsenal would be happy to allow him to leave this season to gain some vital experience.

The Portuguese defender featured 22 times in the Premier League last season, mainly as back up for Kieran Tierney, who struggled with injuries throughout the season.

However, many Arsenal fans were disappointed with Tavares’ performances in Arsenal colours, as he struggled to adapt to the English game.

In January he was substituted in the 34^th minute against Nottingham Forest in the FA cup, which Arsenal would go onto lose 1-0.

He also did show moments of quality, the main one being his goal against Manchester United at the Emirates to open the scoring in the 3^rd minute.

Arsenal went onto win the game 3-1, thanks to goals also from Bukayo Saka and a thunderbolt from Granit Xhaka.

With just 9 days to go until Arsenal open the 2022/23 season, Mikel Arteta and co will be hoping most business is wrapped up before then, including Nuno Tavares leaving for the year.

Bernd Leno is also expected to leave the club, with further departures likely.

Arsenal will hope to complete the majority of their business before they go to Selhurst Park.