'At the final stages': Manager says he is close to signing Arsenal man in £12m deal

Manchester United are not the only club who have found shipping out unwanted players easier said than done during a difficult summer in the sale’s department. One day out from the deadline, Albert Sambi Lokonga and Nicolas Pepe are still Arsenal players, while Kieran Tierney only departed on loan after a reported £30 million asking price had the Scot’s suitors running for the hills. 

At least, with Nottingham Forest agreeing a deal for Nuno Tavares, Arsenal’s forgotten full-back will not spend the next few months gathering dust on the sidelines. 

According to the Daily Mail, Tavares will move to the City Ground on loan. Forest will also have a £12 million option-to-buy clause in his contract; Cooper confirming to Sky Sports that a deal for the one-time Benfica flyer is on the verge of being completed. 

Arsenal’s Nuno Tavares heading to Nottingham Forest
“I do believe there’s a couple of players – Tavares and (Corinthians defender) Murillo – that are at the final stages. Not quite done. But the process is ticking along quite nicely,” Cooper says. 

“I hope I haven’t gone too soon on that. Because, until things are officially done, then you never quite know.

“There’s a lot of work going on. And maybe there’s some things that are being speculated that are very true, and some that couldn’t be any further away from the truth.” 

According to The Athletic, Forest are also closing in on Chelsea’s Callum Hudson-Odoi and Benfica goalkeeper Odysseas Vlachodimos. The £13 million-rated Argentina international Nicolas Dominguez should arrive from Bologna too; Forest turning their attention to the card-happy ankle-biter after seeing approaches rebuffed for Florentino Luis, Youssouf Fofana and Wilmar Barrios. 
Tavares, meanwhile, will add cover on both the right and the left-hand side of Forest’s defence. The swashbuckling 23-year-old is far from the most solid of defenders. But, having scored six goals on loan at Marseille last term, he will add extra attacking thrust to a side who have often found goals hard to come by.

Post a Comment

0 Comments