Arsenal's summer transfer window has kicked off with the signing of Nuno Tavares from Benfica on a long-term contract, believed to be five years.
The 21-year-old is understood to have joined for a fee of £6.8m and will provide backup and competition to Kieran Tierney for the left-back spot under Mikel Arteta.
Tavares may be a relatively unknown name to some Gooners, but he already has experience sharing the same pitch with the men in red and will hope to prove his worth to Arteta over the coming months.
In his own words, Tavares is a defender who simply loves to attack. A left-footed player who is just as adept at shooting with his right foot, Tavares has vowed to 'find more qualities' during his stint in North London.
With that in mind, Sports Mole takes an in-depth look at the defender and what Gunners fans can expect from him this season.
Background
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Born in Lisbon, Tavares started his youth career at the age of nine for Casa Pia before switching to the academy of reigning Liga NOS champions Sporting Lisbon in 2010. The defender spent three years at Sporting before another two-year stint with Casa Pia's Under-15s between 2013 and 2015.
A transfer to Benfica would follow in the summer of 2015, and Tavares quickly rose through the youth ranks to feature 12 times for Benfica's B side in the 2018-19 Liga Portugal 2 campaign, claiming three assists.
At the tender age of 19, Tavares would play the full 90 minutes on his debut for the senior Benfica side during the 2019 Supertaca Candido de Oliveira, during which he featured at right-back in a resounding 5-0 success.
A mixture of senior and youth level football would follow for Tavares in the 2019-20 season before he became a fully-fledged member of Benfica's first team in the campaign just gone, and he has since become renowned for his versatility, explosive pace, brute strength and trickery in the wide areas.
Recent form
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Tavares would make headlines on the first day of the 2019-20 Liga NOS campaign, as he scored one and assisted two more of Benfica's goals during a 5-0 thumping of Pacos de Ferreira as a right-back, but he would have to wait until after the first coronavirus lockdown to play for the senior side again.
When football in Portugal resumed, Tavares switched from the right-hand side of defence to the left, where he played the full 90 minutes in seven of Benfica's final eight league fixtures and added another two assists to his tally.
Tavares's 2020-21 campaign was disrupted by minor ankle and hip injuries - as well as a positive coronavirus test - but he nevertheless managed to appear in 14 Liga NOS matches for Benfica, albeit without a goal or assist to his name.
The 6ft 1in defender did claim two assists in a Taca de Portugal fourth-round win over Vilafranquense and also featured in five Europa League games - one of which against Arsenal - but his cameo against the Gunners was not a memorable one, as he failed to prevent Bukayo Saka crossing for Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's winner in their last-32 second leg.
International experience
Tavares is yet to pull on the Portugal shirt for his debut for the senior national team, but he arrives at the Emirates boasting plenty of experience at youth level for his country, much like most of his fellow Arsenal youngsters.
After making a handful of appearances for Portugal's Under-18 side, manager Filipe Ramos quickly established Tavares as a regular for the Under-19s as their first-choice left-back, and he started all three of their qualification games for the 2019 Under-19 European Championship.
The left-back inspired Portugal to a 3-0 win over Turkey's Under-19s during qualifying, assisting Umaro Embalo's opener before adding his side's third deep into injury time, but he was not present at the final tournament.
Tavares would proceed to play two matches for Portugal's Under-21 side during their bid to qualify for the 2021 Euros just gone, although he was not called up for the finals tournament and will now hope to force his way into Fernando Santos's thinking with some strong performances in the English capital.
Ben Knapton
