Over the past few days, there had been hope from Arsenal’s end that Nuno Tavares could be found a new landing spot, with Marseille interested in bringing him back until the end of the season.
The Ligue 1 side were needing a new left-back, and while their general director wanted Quentin Merlin from Nantes, their president preferred the idea of signing the Gunners man, currently out on loan.
It appears, according to L’Equipe, that it’s the former of the two who has won the battle, as the French newspaper are reporting that an agreement of around €12m has been reached for Merlin, leaving the Arsenal player now in limbo.
Currently at Nottingham Forest, the left-back has hardly played under both Steve Cooper and Nuno Espírito Santo this season, which is why the Gunners were thinking about recalling him.
The defender was even said to be open to heading back to the south of France despite his difficult end to the season under Igor Tudor, but that will now not be happening it seems.
Tavares is named in L’Equipe as one of the options Marseille had been looking at, but it will be Merlin, and not the Arsenal player, who will be replacing Renan Lodi, who went to Al-Hilal in Saudi Arabia.
