The saga of Lucas Torreira leaving Arsenal has been going on for two long years, with this being the third summer that the Uruguayan midfielder has been searching for a club willing to take him on permanently, with little success so far.
His first year at Atletico Madrid never really took off, but last season’s loan at Fiorentina was much better indeed, and the club assured Torreira that they intended to keep him on permanently when his loan ended. But at the last minute Fiorentina refused to take up the option and pay the buy-out clause in his loan deal, apparently hoping that Arsenal would cave in and accept the reduced price.
In response, with no firm offers on the table, Arteta has insisted that Lucas join up with the Arsenal squad for the pre-season tour of the USA, despite Torreira insisting that he had no intention of playing for the Gunners again.
Now there is another twist in the tale, as Torreira’s agent Pablo Bentancur now insists that Valencia is a potential destination for his client, and they have agreed personal terms with the Spanish side, according to a tweet from Fabrizio Romano…
Lucas Torreira’s agent Bentancur: “We have reached an agreement with Valencia, Gattuso wants him. We are gonna discuss with Arsenal – Arteta wants to see him in the pre season”, tells 100% Deporte. 🔴🇺🇾 #AFC
“He had great numbers with AFC but we’ve pre agreement with Valencia”. pic.twitter.com/ciWaWMXOjC
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) July 13, 2022
So I wonder what this means for Torreira? Will he still be joining up with the squad after all? Is Arteta going to try and persuade Torreira to stay at Arsenal next season?
And surely it is up to Valencia to contact Arsenal about the transfer fee, not Torreira’s agent?
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Keep him
decent player, but not good enough. Just recoup as much as possible and move on.
Sell him if they meet Arsenal’s asking price. Torreira clearly doesn’t want to be here, Arteta has never rated him, so why disrupt the team chemistry Arteta has worked to create?
Rather see Lokonga get more chances than Torreira who can’t cut it at Arsenal.
There is no point holding to a players with 1 year in their contract. If Arteta sees them as an integral part of his team, he should offer them more than 2 years contract to protect the club from losing money. If not he should sell them now and use the money to improve his team as he seem fit. No more allowing players to go on free.
Lucas Torreira has a market value of £18m so Valencia would normally need to be somewhere close to that. However I doubt they will be paying anything close to it because they know Torreira want’s to leave and he has a year left. As much as MA is playing hardball by taking him on the Preseason tour, there is little point in keeping him. We may have to settle for at least half of his value. Just another bad signing..
Torreira shows the risks in bringing some one from abroad into the PL.
It’s not just about the more physical style of play, the more uniform standard of the teams, it’s also about people settling in this country.
Torreira is still a good player but his well-documented unrest and inability to settle to life in the UK means, sadly, that we will part with him for less.
That’s not an Arsenal failing per se, it’s true for all clubs. Having someone like John Terry used to be as Chelsea captain can help (inviting the players round to his house regularly for get-togethers, a few drinks, video gaming competitions etc helps people settle in and get to know people).
A club captain has to be more than a leader on the field.