"Close to reaching an agreement" - Fabrizio Romano claims PL club are set to sign Arsenal star on-loan

Nottingham Forest are reportedly close to signing left-back Nuno Tavares from Arsenal on a loan deal, which could include an option to buy.

As per transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, Tavares has agreed to join Nottingham Forest on an initial loan deal. The defender did not have a place in Arsenal's squad under Mikel Arteta and agreed to leave this summer.

The Premier League side were in talks to sign the defender on a permanent deal, but are now focused on getting him on loan. However, the Gunners are letting Nottingham have an option to sign him permanently.

Aston Villa were also interested in signing the defender but could not get a deal over the line. Unai Emery pushed for the move and they were open to signing him permanently.

Tavares arrived at Arsenal from Benfica in 2021 and made 28 appearances for the Gunners, scoring one goal and provided two assists.

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Arsenal star wanted to sign for Ligue1 club this summer

Nuno Tavares was on loan at Marseille last season and admitted that he wanted to join them permanently. He added that the loan was brilliant for him and he was enjoying life in France off the pitch.

The defender was quoted by Football.London as saying:

"I'm good here. I feel good here and it shows in the matches. On top of that, Marseille feels very similar to Lisbon — the streets, the city, the climate, the sun. I'm not thinking about the future."

"I live in the present moment, day by day. I have no thoughts about my future, I'm just keeping my feet on the ground."

Tavares went on to claim that he wanted the Ligue1 side to have an option to buy at the end of the season, but the Gunners refused it. He added:

"At Arsènal, I do not know if it was a problem of competition with Kieran Tierney, but for me, that's not even the point. I came to Marseille to finally be able to play in my position."

"When signing with OM, I wanted to have an option to buy, but Arsènal refused. With my agents, we always wanted this purchase option, but Arsènal didn't."

Arsenal have also loaned out their other left-back Kieran Tierney despite the ACL injury to new signing Jurien Timber. The Scotsman has joined Real Sociedad on a season-long loan.