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Nuno Tavares
Portuguese footballer (born 2000) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Nuno Albertino Varela Tavares (European Portuguese: [ˈnunu taˈvaɾɨʃ]; born 26 January 2000) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Serie A club Lazio and the Portugal national team.
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Club career
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Benfica
Born in Lisbon of Cape Verdean descent, Tavares finished his development with Benfica after three years at city rivals Sporting CP and two stints with Casa Pia.[3][4][5] His manager at Casa Pia, João Silva, drove him home from training every day while also allowing his studies to take priority.[6]
Tavares made his senior debut with Benfica's reserves in the LigaPro, his first match being a 3–2 home win against Covilhã on 27 October 2018.[7] He played his first official game with the first team on 4 August 2019, featuring 90 minutes in the 5–0 victory over Sporting in the Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira at the Estádio Algarve.[8] His Primeira Liga bow took place the following week, opening an eventual 5–0 home defeat of Paços de Ferreira and adding two assists.[9] However, his weaknesses were exposed two weeks later in a 2–0 loss to Porto in O Clássico, which led him to return to the B side and lose his place to Tomás Tavares, being limited to occasional domestic cup matches in place of Alejandro Grimaldo.[6]
Following a difficult season, and a video posted on the Instagram account of a friend of Tavares where Grimaldo was referred to in derogatory terms, Benfica decided to sell the player in spite of his public apologies.[6] During his spell at the club, he made 41 competitive appearances.[10]
Arsenal
On 10 July 2021, Tavares joined Arsenal on a long-term contract in a deal worth around £8 million.[11][12] He made his Premier League debut on 13 August, coming on as a late substitute for Calum Chambers in a 2–0 away defeat to Brentford.[13] Following an injury to Kieran Tierney he managed to earn a starting spot, initially achieving good performances and earning praise from coach Mikel Arteta, who especially liked his attacking qualities; however, he also struggled with homesickness, and his defensive frailties, positional mistakes and lapses in concentration led to him being regularly substituted at half-time during matches, most notably when he gifted a goal to Diogo Jota in the 4–0 defeat to Liverpool following a misplaced pass.[14][15][16]
Tavares scored his first goal on 23 April 2022, through a calm tap-in after David de Gea had saved Bukayo Saka's curl in the third minute of an eventual 3–1 home win against Manchester United.[17]
Loans
On 30 July 2022, Tavares moved to Ligue 1 club Marseille on a season-long loan;[18] he wanted to have the option to sign permanently at the end of the deal, but Arteta refused to sanction it.[19] He scored on his debut, a 4–1 home victory over Reims.[20] He repeated the feat the following matchday, in the 1–1 draw at Brest.[21]
Tavares improved his form under manager Igor Tudor, with his attacking style being put to good use in the latter's system.[22][23] On 2 January 2023, however, in the last minutes of a 2–1 away defeat of Montpellier – he had opened the score at the start of the second half – he gave away a penalty after deliberately kicking Arnaud Souquet in the box and was consequently sent off,[24] being handed a three-match ban for his actions two days later.[25]
On 1 September 2023, Tavares joined Nottingham Forest on loan for the season with a £12 million option to buy.[26] Even though he featured more after his compatriot Nuno Espírito Santo replaced Steve Cooper on the bench in December, he totalled only 12 appearances.[27][28]
Forest did not eventually activate the purchase clause.[29][30]
Lazio
On 15 July 2024, Tavares was loaned to Lazio for the 2024–25 campaign with an obligation to buy if certain conditions were met.[31][30] Early into his spell, he created eight goals from nine league appearances, and he provided five assists in the first five.[32][33]
Tavares joined the Serie A club on a permanent basis on 5 June 2025.[34]
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International career
Tavares won his first cap for Portugal at under-21 level on 10 September 2019, in a 2–0 win in Belarus for the 2021 UEFA European Championship qualifiers.[35] On 7 October 2021, against Liechtenstein in the next edition, he scored the first goal in the 11–0 rout in Vizela.[36]
Tavares was included in a provisional squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar,[37] but did not make the final cut.[38] Courtesy of his Lazio performances,[39] he made his full debut on 15 November 2024, replacing Nuno Mendes late into the 5–1 home victory over Poland in the UEFA Nations League.[40][41]
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Media
Tavares was involved in the Amazon Original sports docuseries All or Nothing: Arsenal, which documented the club by spending time with the coaching staff and players behind the scenes both on and off the field throughout their 2021–22 season.[42][43]
Career statistics
Club
- As of match played 25 May 2025
- Includes Taça de Portugal, FA Cup, Coupe de France, Coppa Italia
- Includes Taça da Liga, EFL Cup
- Appearance in Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira
- Appearances in UEFA Europa League
- Appearances in UEFA Champions League
International
- As of match played 15 November 2024[47]
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Honours
Benfica
References
External links
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