Arsenal: Nuno Tavares opens up very real Kieran Tierney debate

Assessing all six of the summer signings made by Arsenal, bottom of the pile in terms of, to put it bluntly, significance, fell to Nuno Tavares.

Aaron Ramsdale was a peculiar one due to him arriving as a perceived backup, yet for the money parted with it was always felt there would be a gradual integration into the starting lineup; Bernd Leno was never going to stay beyond the current campaign.

In midfield there is Mikel Arteta‘s preferred partnership of Granit Xhaka and Thomas Partey, which meant Albert Sambi Lokonga would also play a bit-part role. However, the latter’s injury issues and the lack of depth in that department also signaled that the Belgian would get a fair crack of the whip. It’s transpired, albeit primarily because of the Swiss.

Martin Odegaard was an essential purchase due to the lack of creativity; Ben White was always going to be first choice at right centre-back; and Takehiro Tomiyasu fit the profile of defender required and would always waltz his way into the team based on Calum Chambers’ worrying form and Cedric Soares’ poor fit in the system.

Arsenal: Nuno Tavares form opens up very real Kieran Tierney debate as Mikel Arteta needs to decide on who to play at left-back

Meanwhile, Kieran Tierney is Kieran Tierney. The indomitable Kieran Tierney. Future captain material. The supremely consistent Scot. Undroppable.

So, the biggest credit that can be paid to Tavares – actually, let’s go with Nuno now that the other one is gone – to Nuno, is that the presence of everyone’s favourite Tesco warrior hasn’t felt especially missed.

It’s an unthinkable situation to be in. While no player will arrive firmly believing they stand no chance of making into the team at some stage, Nuno’s lack of experience and questionable defending from his time in Benfica strongly suggested that occasional cup performances and injury cover would be his remit for the time being.

Just perhaps, as the season wound down, there would be some scope for a few successive outings in the Premier League depending on how the campaign had panned out. Yet here we stand, with a very real debate on the docket.

Making his full Premier League debut against Aston Villa, Nuno was near faultless as he kept Matty Cash pinned back deep into his own half. Some aggressive carries and a series of lung bursting runs were the highlights of his performance in his best display in red and white.

Any hesitation over whether he could replicate such an outing away at a Europe-chasing rival was dispelled in the following fixture as the 21-year-old was once against excellent in the 2-0 win over Leicester. And so, the question is:

Should Nuno keep his place in the team over Tierney?

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