Nottingham Forest are willing to pay £30million for Arsenal left-back Nuno Tavares, according to a report.

Arsenal signed the Portuguese left-back from Benfica in the summer of 2021 for a fee in the region of £7million.

The player had a turbulent debut campaign at the club before joining Marseille on loan for the 2022/23 campaign.

That season in France went just about as well as anyone had hoped given the potential Tavares had displayed the year prior. In 39 appearances across all competitions, he scored six goals and failed to provide any assists.

When Tavares left Arsenal on a temporary basis he was known for being dangerous going forward but suspect defensively and it is safe to say he has not really improved the latter part of his game.

This is not putting off Nottingham Forest, who want to pay big bucks for the 23-year-old.

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According to the Mirror, Steve Cooper’s side ‘are hoping to do a £30m deal’, much to the amazement of the Arsenal fans, myself included.

West Ham are also said to be interested in signing the Portuguese left-back.

Mikel Arteta will be without Jurrien Timber for a lengthy period of time after the Dutch defender suffered a torn ACL against Forest but this is unlikely to convince the Arsenal boss to give Tavares another chance, especially if £30m is on the table.

Football London adds that Forest are in talks with the Gunners over the signing of Tavares.

There is also interest from German clubs Wolfsburg and Werder Bremen, though the player’s ‘preference’ is to play in the Premier League.

It is added that Tavares is no longer a part of Arteta’s plans despite a productive season on loan at Marseille.

Arteta is eager to offload several players before the transfer window closes and the report claims Cedric Soares and Albert Sambi Lokonga ‘will be allowed to leave at the right price’.

Meanwhile, Nicolas Pepe is attracting interest from Turkish giants Besiktas, Real Sociedad want to sign Kieran Tierney on loan, and Monaco are ‘expected to make a second bid’ for Folarin Balogun.

On Tierney, it is believed Arsenal are not willing to loan him out but are open to selling the Scottish left-back.

Newcastle United have been linked with the former Celtic youngster all summer but a move now appears unlikely after they agreed a deal to sign Chelsea teenager Lewis Hall for £28m.

Raising the funds through the sale of Tavares could go a long way for Arsenal after Timber’s injury.

Arteta admitted he is open to signing a new defender but it is unlikely he will be able to do so unless he offloads one or two players.

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