Arsenal Serie A loanee returns from injury | OneFootball

Arsenal loanee Nuno Tavares has made a positive return from injury this week, playing for Lazio in a big win over Monza and a draw with league leaders Napoli.

Photo by Marco Rosi – SS Lazio/Getty Images

Late in January, Arsenal loanee Nuno Tavares suffered an injury during Lazio’s Europa League win over Real Sociedad. The 25-year-old had already provided an assist as his team raced into a 3-0 lead, but he was forced off before the first half was over.

Subsequent reports suggested Tavares would miss three games with an adductor injury to the left thigh, and so it proved.

Tavares was absent for Lazio’s defeats to Fiorentina and Braga, as well as their narrow win over Cagliari, but he returned to the starting lineup for the following game against Monza last Sunday.

Photo by Marco Rosi – SS Lazio/Getty Images

Playing 65 minutes, Tavares again left the field with his team winning 3-0, and the match ultimately finished 5-1. The left-back was then given 82 minutes against Serie A leaders Napoli, helping them to an encouraging 2-2 draw.

At the time of writing, Lazio are fourth in the Serie A table and in contention for a Champions League place, though they sit a way behind the title challenging top-two of Napoli and Inter Milan.

Lazio face Inter later this month, but in a Coppa Italia quarter-final match, not a league clash. They don’t meet again in the league until May.

As well as those two domestic competitions, Lazio remain in the Europa League after topping the League Phase with 19 points. They’ll soon learn their last-16 opponents, following the play-off second-leg matches this week.

Photo by Valerio Pennicino/Getty Images

Tavares has played 21 times for Lazio this season, providing nine assists, despite suffering two muscle injuries.

Lazio have a €9m (£7.6m) obligation to buy in the loan deal based on various conditions, so the expectation is that he’ll join permanently this summer. The player then has a sell-on clause reportedly worth more than 25% of a future fee.