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- Ferdi Kadioglu has agreed to join Arsenal this summer
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- Arsenal lead race to sign Bologna star Joshua Zirkzee
- Arsenal ready to sell trio to fund Bruno Guimaraes deal
- Arsenal target Xavi Simons can only leave PSG for a hefty fee
- Youssouf Fofana speaks out on future amid Arsenal interest
- Arsenal in battle to sign £55m Marc Guehi this summer
Player completes medical ahead of Arsenal move as Arteta nears 1st summer signing
According to Portuguese publication Record, via Sport Witness, Nuno Tavares has completed his medical in Portugal and is en route to London to finalise his move to Arsenal from Benfica.
Tavares has been strongly linked with a move to Arsenal in recent weeks after Mikel Arteta identified the youngster as the ideal player to support Kieran Tierney at left-back next season.
Tierney has signed a new long-term contract at Arsenal and will be our first choice left-back but with Sead Kolasinac set to leave, we needed another option in that position and it appears Tavares is the man Arteta has gone for.
A Bola reported this week that Arsenal have agreed a deal worth £6.9m [€8m] up front and another £1.7m [€2m] in add-ons, meaning the total deal could be worth around £8.6m. The report suggested Tavares had been given the green light to fly to London on Thursday to undergo his medical.
However, Friday’s print version of Record [via Sport Witness] claims there was a late change of plan as it was decided the 21-year-old would remain in Portugal to undergo his medical due to Covid restrictions.
Medical done
Tavares will have to quarantine for at least five days when he arrives in the UK which meant he wouldn’t be able to undergo his medical tests until next week, so it was decided he’d have his medical in Portugal to get that out the way.
Record claims Tavares successfully completed his examinations in Lisbon on Thursday and will now travel to London today [Friday] to begin his quarantine before being officially unveiled as an Arsenal player next week.
I guess with the medical done, there is nothing preventing the deal from being announced soon. Tavares will have to wait to have his photo-shoot but the clubs could still confirm a deal has been agreed for his transfer beforehand.
So it looks as though Arteta is on the verge of sealing his first major signing of the summer and Tavares looks to be a smart piece of business by the club. He’s young, talented, doesn’t break the bank and will develop under Arteta while he also has the potential to significantly increase in value.