After a brilliant debut that included a wonderful goal, Nuno Tavares opened up on what advice he was given by Mikel Arteta ahead of his first appearance for the club, as shared by the Arsenal website.
The 21-year-old insisted that Arteta encourage him to just ‘play free, not be scared’, reiterating that Tavares just needed to focus on doing his own ‘job’ and ‘that’s it’.
Tavares was brilliant at left-back before being replaced by starter Kieran Tierney at halftime, the Portugal Under-21s international kept bombarding down the flank and was rewarded for it with his goal.
Arsenal made Tavares their first signing of the summer last week by agreeing a deal worth €8m (£6.8m) with Benfica for the promising left-back, according to the Guardian.
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Here is what Tavares had to say on what Arteta wanted from him heading into his debut:
“To play free, not be scared, do my job and that’s it.”
Arteta expressed his delight with the Portuguese ace’s first performance for the club as well:
? “He’s only been with us a few days but you can already see his qualities…”@m8arteta reacts to Nuno’s goalscoring start to life at Arsenal ?
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) July 17, 2021
Tavares has been recruited to offer competition to Tierney, who has been exceptional for the Gunners but is unfortunately injury-prone and has had to deal with regular setbacks since joining.
Arsenal look to have landed the youngster on a very cost-effective deal, Tavares is just 21 so has plenty of time to develop into a valuable asset and he showed he can already contribute to the team today.
valuation just an accident ie. never adds value to one’s quality. keep it up Nuno..! wish u a blessed career young man.