Nuno Tavares got his Arsenal life off to the best possible start with a goal against Rangers in his first appearance wearing an Arsenal shirt.

Nuno Tavares scores vs Rangers
Nuno Tavares scores vs Rangers

Speaking to Arsenal.com after the game, Tavares was asked what it was like to score his first goal.

“I felt good,” Tavares said. “It was a good game for me and for us. A good test. I think we had a good match and we learned a lot.

“I feel very happy to score my first goal with Arsenal. I’m so excited for this and today I did it.

“It’s good to play with the best, like Aubameyang and Laca. They’re very good players and to play with them, it’s so good.”

Tavares was then asked what Mikel Arteta wants from him and he listed three things: “To play free, not be scared, do my job and that’s it.”

Tavares has been brought in as back-up to the injury-prone Kieran Tierney, although I think we can expect to see Tavares also help take some of the load off the Scottish defender as the club look to manage his issues.

Tierney had already missed 28 Arsenal games prior to his last knee injury, including six games from January 19, 2021, because of another knee problem.

While at Celtic, Tierney didn’t fair much better, although he didn’t suffer any knee problems.

He missed 55 games across four seasons, meaning the 23-year-old missed 90 games because of injury problems since the 16/17 season.