Arsenal left-back Nuno Tavares is close to joining Marseille on loan for the 2022-23 season, according to a report.
The 22-year-old was forced into regular Premier League action last season as cover for the injured Kieran Tierney, who underwent knee surgery at the start of April.
Tavares came up with one goal and one assist in 22 top-flight outings for the Gunners, with his first strike for the club coming in a 3-1 win against Manchester United.
However, Tavares was also prone to underwhelming defensive performances and was memorably taken off in the first half of his side's FA Cup third-round defeat to Nottingham Forest.
The Portugal Under-21 international has now slipped even further down the Arsenal pecking order, with Oleksandr Zinchenko arriving from Manchester City earlier this month.
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As a result, Tavares has been tipped to head out on loan or permanently for the 2022-23 season, but the Gunners are seemingly reluctant to part ways with the left-back permanently.
According to The Express, Marseille are now on the brink of winning the race for Tavares's signature after negotiations with Serie A outfit Atalanta BC collapsed.
Gian Piero Gasperini's side were supposedly hoping to include a buy option in Tavares's loan deal, which Arsenal were not willing to sanction, and talks therefore broke down.
The report adds that Marseille's Ligue 1 rivals Lille are also interested in the former Benfica man, but he has earmarked the Orange Velodrome as his preferred destination for the 2022-23 campaign.
Tavares remains under contract at Arsenal until 2025 with the option of a further year, and there is still hope that he will become an integral part of Mikel Arteta's setup in the years to come.
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The Portuguese defender would follow in the footsteps of a number of players to have made the switch from Arsenal to Marseille, namely Sead Kolasinac, Matteo Guendouzi and William Saliba.
Guendouzi has signed for Les Olympiens permanently after a successful loan spell, but Kolasinac struggled to impress Jorge Sampaoli, who dramatically resigned from his post earlier this summer.
Meanwhile, Arsenal have so far resisted Marseille's attempts to sign Saliba on a permanent basis after the 21-year-old won the Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year award for his displays last term.
Les Olympiens are refusing to throw in the towel, though, and Saliba's agent Djibril Niang is understood to have had dinner in London with Marseille president Pablo Longoria this month.
However, Arsenal are keen to tie Saliba down to a new-and-improved contract, with his current terms due to expire in the summer of 2024.
Ben Knapton
