“I wanted… but Arsenal refused”: Nuno Tavares speaks on his future with Gunners as he plays on loan at Marseille

The Portuguese professional currently plays for the French side and is going to return to the Emirates Stadium in June 30, 2023.

Tavares’ contract with Arsenal expires in the summer of 2025. The player is yet to decide on his possible stay with Mikel Arteta’s side but he has now admitted he is “feeling good” at Marseille – the city feels similar to Lisbon.

“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,” he said, via Football London.

Being asked on his potential participation to the upcoming World Cup, the defender said: “Frankly, I don’t really think about it. My goal at the moment is just to do a good job for Marseille.”

The 22-year-old has also admitted that he wanted to have a buy option in his loan contract with Ligue 1 club, however, Arsenal refused to include it in the deal.

“At Arsenal, 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 Arsenal refused. With my agents, we always wanted this purchase option, but Arsenal didn’t,” he added.

“Now I’m at OM, and with or without an option, I’m happy. At Arsenal, I would have probably only played in the cup. I came to Marseille to play in my position, in the Champions League, in the league and in the cup [competition]. Marseille gave me this opportunity.”