An update has emerged on Aston Villa and their plans to bolster their defensive options before the end of the summer transfer window…
What's the latest Aston Villa transfer news?
According to Italian journalist Fabrizio Romano, the Villans are exploring a deal to sign left-back Nuno Tavares from fellow Premier League side Arsenal, as Unai Emery eyes a move for the defender.
The reporter has claimed that Nottingham Forest's swoop for his services has now collapsed, which has opened the door for another team to snap him up.
Read the latest Aston Villa transfer news HERE…
Romano also added that personal terms are yet to be agreed between Villa and the Portuguese full-back as it is up to the clubs to agree on a fee first.
It was recently reported that the Gunners would demand a fee within the region of a staggering £22m to sell him on a permanent basis this summer, amid interest from West Ham and Galatasaray.
How good is Nuno Tavares?
The 23-year-old dud's performances in recent years suggest that he would not be a very good option for Emery this season and that means that the club could land Lucas Digne 2.0 by signing him.
Villa signed the France international from Everton for £25m in January of last year and he struggled badly throughout the 2022/23 campaign.
The 30-year-old flop averaged a Sofascore rating of 6.67 across 28 Premier League appearances, which placed him 16th within the squad. This shows that he was far from being one of the club's top performers despite his big-money switch from Goodison Park.
He failed to provide a threat in possession from left-back as the season ended with one goal and zero assists for the former FC Barcelona defender, whilst his 0.6 key passes per outing was the seventh-best in the team.
Emery could now sign Digne 2.0 in a move for Tavares as his poor form for Marseille is a huge cause for concern, particularly if it would cost £22m to secure his signature this summer.
The Portugal U21 international spent last season on loan in France and averaged a Sofascore rating of 6.67 across 31 Ligue 1 appearances, which shows that he was as disappointing as the French dud was for the Villans.
Tavares was beaten far too easily by attackers as he was dribbled past 0.9 times per game and Alex Moreno (1.2) was the only Villa defender who was dribbled past more per match in the Premier League last term.
The ex-Benfica prospect also lost 58% of his duels and failed with 58% of his attempted dribbles, which shows that the opposition found it too easy to outmuscle him in physical contests and were able to stop him moving forward the majority of the time.
This also came after he averaged a Sofascore rating of 6.63 over 22 Premier League clashes for Arsenal during the 2021/22 campaign.
Tavares, who was described as "catastrophic" by Casa Sports director of development Cherif Sadio during his time at Marseille, also failed to register a single assist in Ligue 1, although he did rack up six goals from left-back.
Therefore, Emery must now avoid a deal to sign the Arsenal dud as his performances over the last two years suggest that it would be another expensive flop at left-back for the club.