Arsenal defender Nuno Tavares has a verbal agreement to join Lazio, with a medical set for this weekend.

Fabrizio Romano reports that Arsenal’s Nuno Tavares now has a verbal agreement on a five-year deal with Lazio, lasting until June 2029.

The move is an initial loan deal, but with a mandatory purchase clause and a sell-on clause. There will be no repeat of last year’s situation where Nottingham Forest opted not to activate their option to buy.

Romano writes that Tavares will travel for a medical this weekend, if all else goes to plan with the formal documents.

As for the details of the fee and sell-on clause, Romano reports that the fee is slightly higher than previously reported at €9m (£7.6m).

Dharmesh Sheth had written for Sky Sports that the sell-on clause is believed to be set at 20% of a future sale.

Tavares made 12 appearances for Forest over the course of the 2023/24 season, with eight in the Premier League and four in the FA Cup. He’ll hope his (eventual) permanent transfer will give him some more regularity in the starting lineup for Lazio.

Lazio’s sporting director had already confirmed their agreement with Arsenal earlier this week.

“[Tavares] is a player who interests Lazio a lot,” Angelo Fabiani said on Wednesday.

“There have been talks between the two clubs for an agreement that was reached yesterday.

“Before completing the operation, however, many components must be agreed upon and an agreement must be found with the agents.

“I am more than confident, but for superstitious reasons I will not say that he is already a Lazio player.”