Lazio head coach Gennaro Gattuso says Arsenal flop Nuno Tavares has ‘everything it takes’ to be playing for Real Madrid with the right mindset.
Arsenal were alerted to Tavares’ undoubted potential when he was playing for boyhood team Benfica and went on to wrap up an £8million deal for the left-back in July 2021.
However, Tavares flattered to deceive in his debut season under Mikel Arteta at the Emirates and the 26-year-old was sent on loan to Ligue 1 outfit Marseille the following summer.
Two separate loan spells with Nottingham Forest and Lazio followed before the latter signed Tavares on a permanent basis from Arsenal 12 months ago.
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Tavares went on to make 28 appearances in all competitions for Lazio as the club finished ninth in the Serie A table in a difficult year that led to Maurizio Sarri’s departure by mutual consent.
Sarri’s successor Gattuso has kicked off the new campaign in convincing fashion, with Lazio winning three and drawing one of their first four league matches to claim top spot in Italy.
Tavares has started all but one of those matches and it’s clear the new Lazio boss thinks incredibly highly of the Portugal international.
‘I’ve always said that Tavares is worthy of Real Madrid,’ Gattuso, perhaps most well-known for winning the 2006 World Cup with Italy, told DAZN.
‘He feels like someone who lost his parents young, received a big inheritance, and in five years it went up in smoke
‘This is a player who ought to be at Real Madrid. He’s got everything it takes, he has pace, right foot, left foot.’
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According to Gattuso, Tavares is a unique talent and has the ability to have been a star for Madrid over the last decade.
‘He is unusual and after a match he needs his time to recover, but he’s a good lad,’ he added.
‘You need to get into his head and make him understand.
‘He knows he has talent and could’ve had 10-12 years at Real Madrid with his qualities. You’ve just got to get him to understand.’
Tavares will be expected to keep his place in Gattuso’s starting XI when Lazio return to action away to Serie A new boys Venezia this weekend.
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