Arsenal defender Nuno Tavares has admitted he moved to Marseille this summer after seeing how Matteo Guendouzi and William Saliba performed at the club last season.
The fullback joined the French side on a season-long loan deal at the end of July, having been pushed down the pecking order at the Emirates.
He joined Arsenal last summer from Benfica and was a regular for them but was not a part of Mikel Arteta’s plans for this season after the arrival of Oleksandr Zinchenko from Manchester City.
The Ukrainian will likely be competing with Kieran Tierney for that left-back spot, meaning Tavares faced a season sat on the sidelines at best.
He’s instead headed out on loan to Marseille, where he will also be able to play Champions League football this season.
The defender is not the first Arsenal player to make a loan switch to Marseille, with Guendouzi and Saliba both enjoying spells there last season.
That’s something Tavares was aware of, admitting he saw how they performed and hopes to follow in their footsteps.
“For me, the answer was quick. I think it was more between the clubs that there were some small problems,” Le Phoceen report him saying.
“I was in agreement from the start. Of course, I saw that the club was playing in the Champions League, I saw their great season last season with second place. For me, the decision was quite quick.
“Of course, I saw what they (Guendouzi & Saliba) did in Marseille, especially Saliba, who I saw when he came back from Arsenal after his great season.
“Guendouzi was also fantastic. I’ve only seen a few games of both, to be honest. I will try to do the same or even better and help the team as much as possible to achieve the objectives.”
