Nuno Tavares played his first 90 minutes for Nottingham Forest on Saturday, as rumours of a possible loan hijack start to swirl.

Arsenal’s Nuno Tavares is currently on loan with Premier League side Nottingham Forest, but things haven’t exactly gone to plan so far.

Tavares played in Forest’s first three games following his loan move, but he then picked up an injury forcing him out of action for a few games.

The left-back returned to fitness and to the bench against Liverpool in late October, and he was on the bench again at home to Aston Villa the following week, but he didn’t come on in either fixture.

After that, Tavares disappeared from the squad completely.

There were no reports to suggest Tavares was injured, and he continued to feature in training for his loan side the entire time he was absent from matches.

There were some signs that Tavares was unhappy, deleting his profile picture from his Instagram account, then deleting his account completely.

But things seem to be turning around under new management.

Days after the appointment of Nuno Espirito Santo, Tavares made his first matchday squad for a month and a half.

This weekend, the left-back played his first 90 minutes of the entire campaign, and his first Premier League minutes since September.

Tavares’ future remains uncertain. There have been rumours this week of Marseille interest in re-signing the left-back, and one 90-minute appearance is unlikely to solve all the problems of his last few months in Nottingham.

Even so, it’s worth remembering that Forest have a purchase option in Tavares’ deal. If he can turn things around with his current club, he could secure himself some much needed long-term stability.