Arsenal have been made aware of an interest in Lucas Torreira from a suitor who has made significant progress on one side of the deal, reports claim.
Torreira has been an Arsenal player for four years now, but has spent half of that time out on loan. During the 2020-21 campaign, he won La Liga as a bit-part player with Atletico Madrid. Then, in 2021-22, he got his own individual career back on track in a productive season with Fiorentina.
Over the summer, Torreira has been back with Arsenal, who have him under contract for another season. However, it isn’t looking too likely that he will spend it with them.
Indeed, there have been several exit links for the Uruguay international. A return to Serie A has been speculated, even though Fiorentina failed to find an agreement to keep him on a permanent basis.
There have been suggestions of interest from Jose Mourinho’s Roma, as well as the club from whom Arsenal bought Torreira in the first place, Sampdoria.
However, Italian source Calciomercato.it are now painting a pessimistic view of the chances of Torreira being back in their country’s top flight in 2022-23. Instead, the website claims Galatasaray are interested in taking him to Turkey.
In fact, the Super Lig side have made that much known to Arsenal. Torreira is not a part of Mikel Arteta’s plans, so the Gunners will be open to organising a deal.
From the player’s perspective, there is already said to be an agreement in principle between Torreira’s entourage and Galatasaray. He would be signing a three-year contract with the option of a further 12 months.
Contract details revealed
The contract would be worth a net sum of more than €3million per season, which would equate to around £50,000 per week. It would be a slight decrease on the £75,000 per week he is believed to be on from Arsenal.
But the more important thing for Torreira will be to settle at a club where he is wanted. At the age of 26, he deserves to play a fundamental part for whoever he represents.
The years of his provisional Galatasaray contract should form part of the prime of his career. Although he may not have envisaged spending them outside one of Europe’s top five leagues, he would still be joining a club with big pedigree.
However, the Istanbul-based outfit have work to do to get back to their usual level. They finished 13th out of 20 teams in the 2021-22 Super Lig, so do not have any variety of UEFA competition to be involved in next term.
They have already strengthened their midfield with the addition of Sergio Oliveira from Porto, who won a European medal while on loan with Roma last season. It followed their release of several players in similar territory.
Hence, there is still space for Torreira to add to their options and amass a significant proportion of gametime.
Arsenal haven’t made most of Lucas Torreira
Given the lack of time remaining on his contract, any exit from the Emirates Stadium for Lucas Torreira this summer will be permanent.
Looking back on his stint with the club, it is fair to say things didn’t quite go to plan. Torreira looked like a top talent back in his Sampdoria days.
He went on to feature regularly in his first couple of seasons with Arsenal. What happened after, only they know.
Perhaps he just wasn’t an Arteta player. But there certainly could have been a better use for the South American.
Now, he is about to embark on a new adventure elsewhere, so it seems. Arsenal will be getting by without him in their midfield, just as they have for two seasons already.
But perhaps he could have had a bigger impact with the right amount of faith. The fact he will be going a second consecutive season without European football if he joins Galatasaray, though, suggests Arsenal may be slightly ahead of where he is as a player right now anyway.
It could have been different, though.