Alongside Mikel Arteta, the Brazilian has been one of the more public faces during the club's resurgence in recent years and played a crucial role in their impressive transfer dealings.
However, for all the Martin Odegaards, Gabriel Martinelli's and Declan Rices, the former Invincible has helped the club to sign, he's also partly responsible for a fair share of their flops.
mikel-arteta-arsenal-best-signings-edu-odegaard
However, one of his signings who struggled at Arsenal is now thriving away from the club and has been given a massive new valuation.
Arsenal's 2021 signings
The 2021 summer transfer window saw Arsenal sign a couple of players who've since become essential first-teamers, so before we get to the flop in question, let's take a look at them, starting with the mercurial Martin Odegaard.
Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard
The Norwegian international first joined the club on a six-month loan spell that January, and while he wasn't poor, a return of two goals and two assists in 20 appearances wasn't spectacular either.
However, it was enough to convince Edu and Arteta that he was worth a £30m investment, and to their credit, the last few years have proven them right.
In total, the former Real Madrid wonderkid has scored 35 goals and provided 25 assists in 157 appearances for the club, was named captain at just 23 years old and has been sorely missed over the last couple of months.
The other first-team regular signed in that summer was Ben White, who joined the club in a £50m move from Brighton & Hove Albion.
Ben-White-Arsenal
The Englishman spent most of his first campaign at the Emirates playing as a centre-back, but when William Saliba finally made his debut for the team the following season, he moved out to right-back, where he has since flourished.
In total, the Poole-born "warrior", as described by talent scout Jacek Kulig, has made 145 appearances for the Gunners - 99 of which have been at right-back - in which he's scored six goals and provided 11 assists.
Unfortunately, while the Englishman has been a roaring success in N5, another full-back Edu signed that summer certainly wasn't.
The Edu signing Arsenal could regret selling
So, among the certified transfer hits in the summer of 2021, Arsenal also made the £8m signing of Portuguese defender Nuno Tavares.
nuno-tavares-arsenal-emirates-stadium-premier-league
The highly rated full-back was actually Edu's first signing that summer, and while there was some excitement about the player he could become in North London, it just didn't work out for him.
In all, the former Benfica prospect made 28 appearances for the Gunners and looked reasonably threatening while doing so, but his biggest problem was his defensive ability, or lack thereof, with Roy Keane slamming him for being "sloppy" in a game against Nottingham Forest in January 2022.
nuno-tavares-arsenal
The 24-year-old was eventually sent on two very different loan spells across the following two campaigns, first to Marseille in 22/23, where he scored six goals in 39 appearances, and then to Forest last year, where he made just 12 appearances all season and was eventually frozen out of the team.
With it looking like the once-promising full-back had no future in the Premier League, the Gunners agreed to send him on another loan this season to Serie A side Lazio, only this time they included an obligation to buy worth £7.5m should certain targets be met.
Tavares' senior career
Club
Appearances
Goals
Assists
Benfica
41
1
7
Marseille
39
6
0
Arsenal
28
1
2
Nottingham Forest
12
0
0
Lazio
8
0
8
All Stats via Transfermarkt
However, based on how well the Lisboa-born gem has started this season, Edu and Co may regret including such a clause.
In his eight appearances for the Roman side, the "incredible" threat, as dubbed by talent scout Jacek Kulig, has already racked up eight assists - talk about a turnaround.
Nuno-Tavares-Lazio (1)
Unsurprisingly, this sensational form led Lazio's majority owner and President, Claudio Lotito, to tell Italian media that he wouldn't sell the defender "even for €70m," which converts to a cool £59m.
This new valuation is a whopping 686% increase on the fee Arsenal will receive for the player come the end of the season.Ultimately, while Edu and Co made several excellent signings in the summer of 2021, Tavares has proven to be something of a disaster, as he was both underwhelming on the pitch, and now he's set to be a massive opportunity missed off it.
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