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Report: Arsenal agree deal to sign 21y/o star, player will sign a long-term contract

By mac14 on June 28, 2021

According to reports in Portugal via the Metro, Arsenal have agreed a deal in principal to sign Nuno Tavares from Benfica with the young left-back set to sign a five-year contract at the Emirates.

Mikel Arteta is expected to be busy in the market this summer revamping his squad after we finished eighth in the table last season and we’ve been linked with a whole host of players over the past few weeks.

Arsenal are reportedly in talks to sign Ben White and Albert Lokonga with deals for the duo believed to be close, however, our first summer signing could actually be a surprise name, if reports are accurate.

According to Portuguese newspaper Jornal de Noticias, via the Metro, Arsenal are closing in on a deal to sign youngster Nuno Tavares and have already got an agreement in principal agreed with Benfica.

The report says Arsenal have beaten the likes of Southampton and Napoli to the signing of the 21-year-old defender and the deal is expected to be finalised soon as Tavares has already agreed terms over a five-year contract.

Jornal de Noticias suggest the deal is ‘imminent’, so it looks as though Arsenal are on the verge of securing our first major piece of transfer business of what’s expected to be a hectic summer of activity in north London.

No transfer fee is mentioned in the report from the Portuguese outlet, but the Metro suggests that a deal is expected to cost Arsenal around £12.8m.

Sead Kolasinac spent last season on loan and is tipped to leave the club on a permanent basis so Arteta needs to bring in a left-back to support Kieran Tierney and it looks like Tavares is the man we’ve gone for.

The Portuguese Under-21 international has made 42 appearances for Benfica since breaking into the first team in 2019 having come through their youth ranks and he’s regarded as one of the best young defenders in Portugal.

With Arsenal not being in Europe next season, I assume Tavares will be used in the domestic cup competitions and will only get action in the Premier League when Tierney isn’t fit or needs a rest against the ‘lesser’ clubs.

I can’t pretend to know too much about Tavares so we just have to trust the Arsenal scouting department but he’s a good age and the price isn’t too expensive, so he could be a good piece of business if he settles and develops as expected.