Why Lazio are letting Nuno Tavares go for half the asking price

Lazio are letting Nuno Tavares join Beşiktaş for €10m — nearly half the €18m they demanded a week ago. With Alfonso Pedraza already lined up as his replacement, Maurizio Sarri gets the disciplined left-back he actually wants.

It’s happening again. Lazio are shipping another player to Turkey, and this time the fee is almost an insult to what they were hoping for just a week ago.

According to Sky Sport Italia and transfer expert Gianluca Di Marzio, Nuno Tavares is set to join Beşiktaş on a loan with an obligation to buy at €10 million. That’s a far cry from the €18m figure that LaLazioSiamoNoi reported Lazio were demanding only last week. What happened?

The uncomfortable truth: Tavares doesn’t fit Sarri’s system

Let’s be honest here. Maurizio Sarri’s return to the Stadio Olimpico in June 2025 was supposed to bring stability, identity, and a clear footballing philosophy back to Lazio. But that philosophy has no room for a player like Tavares — electric going forward, chaotic in his defensive duties.

The Portuguese left-back had a genuinely impressive loan spell last season. Remember those eight assists in his first ten Serie A matches? That was vintage Tavares: head down, overlapping run, dangerous cross. But Sarri doesn’t want a winger masquerading as a full-back. He needs discipline, positional awareness, consistent decision-making.

This season tells the story. Tavares has managed just 9 league appearances for 512 minutes. A calf injury didn’t help, but even when fit, he was dropping down the pecking order. Luca Pellegrini and Manuel Lazzari were getting the nod. That says everything.

Lazio’s Turkish pipeline continues

Fresh from selling Matteo Guendouzi to Fenerbahçe for €28m plus add-ons — a deal that saw the Frenchman score on his debut in the Turkish Super Cup — Lazio are clearly comfortable doing business with Istanbul’s clubs. Guendouzi’s departure hurt. He was Sarri’s midfield engine, the player the Italian coach openly admitted he wanted to build around for years.

But when the numbers work, Claudio Lotito listens. And after narrowly avoiding another transfer ban due to Financial Fair Play concerns, Lazio aren’t in a position to be sentimental.

Enter Pedraza: the Sarri-friendly solution

The replacement is already lined up. Alfonso Pedraza, the 29-year-old Villarreal left-back, has given his approval for a move to Rome, per Alfredo Pedullà. His contract with the Yellow Submarine expires in June, so Lazio will only need to pay a small fee to bring him in during this window rather than waiting for summer.

Pedraza is everything Tavares isn’t in Sarri’s eyes. Experienced (over 200 games for Villarreal), tactically intelligent, less likely to leave a gaping hole on the flank when possession turns over. He won’t produce the same highlights, but he won’t give Sarri heart attacks either.

What it means for Arsenal

Here’s an interesting subplot. Arsenal sold Tavares to Lazio permanently in the summer of 2025 for around £7.5m, but they insisted on a sell-on clause reported between 25-40%. If Beşiktaş’s €10m obligation gets triggered, the Gunners will pocket another decent chunk of change for a player who never truly fit Mikel Arteta’s plans either.

Tavares’ career trajectory has been wild. Brilliant at Marseille (six goals in 31 Ligue 1 games in 2022-23), forgettable at Nottingham Forest (12 appearances, no goals), exciting then disappointing at Lazio. At 25, he still has time, but he needs a manager who will embrace his chaos rather than try to suppress it.

Beşiktaş might just be that place. The Super Lig rewards attacking full-backs, and Turkish crowds appreciate flair over tactical rigidity. Whether €10m proves to be a bargain or a burden will depend entirely on whether Tavares can find consistency — something that has eluded him throughout his career.

For Lazio, this is pragmatic business. Lose a player who doesn’t fit, recoup some funds, bring in someone who does. It’s not glamorous, but under Lotito, it rarely is.