Report: ‘Elite’ Arsenal player has turned down chance to join Champions League club

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Arsenal left-back Nuno Tavares has been linked with a move away from the Emirates this summer.

The Gunners signed Tavares from Benfica last season for a reported £8million.

However, he struggled in his maiden campaign at Arsenal, looking defensively vulnerable at times.

With the Gunners now closing in on Oleksandr Zinchenko, this could push Tavares further down the pecking order.

The 22-year-old has been linked with several clubs, including Brighton and Marseille.

Regarding the French outfit’s pursuit of Tavares, La Provence has provided some more information.

The French outlet – via Sport Witness – claims Marseille had ‘long hoped to attract him’ to the club.

However, when they talked to Tavares, he reportedly let them know he had ‘no intention of coming’.

Apparently, the challenge presented by them ‘didn’t interest him’.

This has forced Pablo Longoria to move on to other targets, such as Hellas Verona’s Darko Lazovic.

Marseille finished second in Ligue 1 last season and will be in the Champions League next term.

It remains to be seen what Mikel Arteta has in store for Tavares.

Perhaps he wants to give the “elite” talent the chance to fight for a first-team place.

After all, Zinchenko is also capable of playing in midfield, so it’s not as though left-back will be shut off.

Or maybe Arteta would like to loan Tavares to a Premier League team.

This would benefit him and Arsenal in terms of the experience he’d get, ahead of then staking a Gunners claim.