Nuno Tavares was born on 26 January 2000 in Lisbon, Portugal. He was formed at Benfica, joining the under-17 side in 2015 and progressing through the youth ranks to Benfica B in 2018.

A left-back, he renewed his contract on 5 June 2018 and again on 12 July 2019, the latter deal running to 2024. He broke into the first-team squad in August 2019 and 2020/21 was his most substantial season at the club, when he was used as a regular option at left-back under Jorge Jesus and featured in the league and in Europe. He left before the 2021/22 season began.

Benfica sold him to Arsenal on 10 July 2021 for a reported eight million euros. He subsequently had loan spells at Marseille and Nottingham Forest before joining Lazio, initially on loan and then permanently. He has represented Portugal at youth international level.