Arsenal loanee Nuno Tavares revives career at Lazio: 'I want to win titles and be competitive'
Arsenal loanee Nuno Tavares revives career at Lazio: 'I want to win titles and be competitive'
The frontrunner to be this season's assist champion, with Christian Pulisic and Romelu Lukaku in his rearview mirror, is a left back who struggled for game time with Nottingham Forest last season and this is earning comparisons with Javier Zanetti. Nuno Tavares has come a long way in a short space of time.
Didn't see this coming? You might not be the only one. To hear Tavares explain it, even his new teammates were taken aback by the impact he made since arriving from Arsenal on loan in the summer "They were quite surprised," he tells CBS Sports. "They didn't know me that well and I hadn't played a lot of matches."
They know him now. Tavares has eight assists through 20 Serie A matches this season and is a key reason why Lazio remain on the outer reaches of the title race, as well as topping the league phase of the Europa League.
Good for him. It was always obvious he had a ton of talent. But psychologically he was lacking. I don't know if it was focus or self-belief or what. But it sounds like he's worked through that barrier, at least partially.
Still glad he's not with us anymore though. We have several superior fullback options.