Arteta reveals why Arsenal paid £7m for young left-back

Following the recent signing of 21-year-old left-back, Nuno Tavares from Benfica, Mikel Arteta has revealed the reason the Gunners hierarchy spent £7m to bring the player to the Emirates Stadium. According to the manager, Tavares was signed because the club wanted ‘more strength’ and ‘specific qualities.’

The Spanish tactician explained the thinking that went into the signing thus: “We wanted to have more strength and specific qualities in the left-back position, and we identified Nuno a while ago.”

“To be fair to the scouting department, they have done brilliantly to identify talent with the qualities that we required, at the age we required and financially it was something we can afford. The boy has already been pretty impressive. I think he is the right profile for what we are trying to build here.”

The Cape Verde-born defender is expected to play back-up to Kieran Tierney at left-back after he signed a 5-year deal at the London club. Tavares made 53 appearances for Benfica and was part of the team that finished third in the Portuguese league in the just-concluded 2020-21 season.