Forgotten Arsenal player who 'annoyed Mikel Arteta' deletes all his social media accounts after being axed

Forgotten Arsenal youngster Nuno Tavares has deleted his social media account after being dropped from Nottingham Forest’s matchday squad at the weekend.

Portuguese left-back Tavares arrived at the Emirates from Benfica back in 2021 for £7million but struggled to make an impact in north London.

The 23-year-old only made 13 starts for the Gunners in the Premier League before being sent out on loan,to Marseille in France.

At the time, French publication L’Equipe reported that Arteta chose to send Tavares out on loan when the full-back became a nuisance.

Arteta and his staff were allegedly “often annoyed with his behaviour” which led to the loan to the French giants.

The report added that Tavares’ time in France had not quite gone to plan, with the player “sometimes seeming lost on the pitch”.

Tavares subsequently returned to Arsenal this summer but struggled to convince Arteta of his worth. In turn, on transfer deadline day the defender headed out on loan for the season to Nottingham Forest.

There the Portugal under-21 international has also struggled to make an impact, having only started once and come off the bench twice for Forest in the Premier League.

On Saturday Steve Cooper left Tavares out of the squad completely for Forest’s 3-2 home defeat to Brighton, and the player reacted by deleting his Instagram account.

As per the Sun, Forest paid a £1million loan fee for Tavares, but he has not played a minute since coming off injured in a defeat at Manchester City in September.

While they have the option to sign him permanently in the summer for £12million, at present it remains unclear whether Tavares will return to Arsenal once the transfer window opens in January, or if he will fight for his place at Forest.

Cooper’s men are currently 14th in the top flight following this weekend’s setback.

Meanwhile, on Sunday, Arsenal claimed a 1-0 win over Brentford courtesy of a dramatic, late Kai Havertz header to go top of the Premier League table.

Topics: Football, Arsenal, Mikel Arteta, Premier League, Nottingham Forest

Chris Byfield

Sport journalist with experience writing on football, rugby, boxing and the Olympics. I'm also a Crystal Palace fan. Please don't hold this against me.