The signing of Nuno Tavares from Benfica was not highly acclaimed by Arsenal fans, especially as he is only 21 years-old and his price of just 7million didn’t excite Gooners very much.
Furthermore, we were told that he would be initially utilised as a backup to the excellent young Scotsman Kieran Tierney, so he was not here as an instant first team player.
But Tavares was given his debut yesterday in Glasgow, playing the first 45 minutes before Tierney was brought on, and it only took him 23 minutes to show his quality. Playing very high up on the left wing, he pounced on a mis-controlled ball by a Rangers defender and quickly steadied himself to slot it past Allan McGregor to give Arsenal an equaliser.
Mikel Arteta was very happy to see Tavares settle so quickly, and said after the game: “A great debut – with his right foot as well! He’s only been with us a few days but you can already see his qualities, his physicality and then the quality on the ball that he has. He’s integrating with the lads really well, so it’s a good start.”
The Portuguese left back has only been in the UK for a week, so he is obviously not over-awed by meeting his superstar team-mates, and showed great composure in his first showing. He also looked comfortable being interviewed afterwards as well.
He told Arsenal.com: “I felt good. It was a good game for me and for us. A good test. I think we had a good match and we learned a lot.
“I feel very happy to score my first goal with Arsenal. I’m so excited for this and today I did it.
“It’s good to play with the best, like Aubameyang and Laca. They’re very good players and to play with them, it’s so good.”
It looks like Arsenal could have got quite a bargain in Tavares.
What do you think?
Watch Tavares first goal for Arsenal here…