Lucas Torreira’s agent has urged Mikel Arteta to make a definitive decision on the Arsenal midfielder’s future.
The Uruguay international impressed during the early weeks of Arteta’s reign when he was restored to his customary role at the base of Arsenal’s midfield, having been deployed in a more attacking position by Unai Emery.
Torreira suffered a serious ankle injury during an FA Cup win at Portsmouth in March and by the time he had recovered he found it hard to force his way back into the starting XI, given the form of Dani Ceballos and Granit Xhaka.
Arteta had hoped to strengthen his midfield this summer but with Ceballos having returned to Real Madrid and there being little to no transfer interest in the exiled Matteo Guendouzi, the Spaniard’s plans appear to be on hold.
A deal for Atletico Madrid’s Thomas Partey appears to be beyond Arsenal’s financial means, but the club are said to have explored the option of a swap deal with Roma involving Torreira and Amadou Diawara.
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AC Milan and Fiorentina have also expressed an interest in bringing the combative former Sampdoria star back to Serie A and Torreira’s representative has asked Arsenal to make their intentions clear.
‘There are many requests for information, but nothing official yet, so there are no written offers on the table,’ Pablo Bentancur told Calciomercato.com.
‘The player is training with Arsenal, they own him, he is one of the few cases of athletes who arrive in England and immediately play 50 games in a row.
‘After a nasty injury, he didn’t require surgery, but the recovery process was still tricky and took a while. Now the coach and Arsenal must work out if they need Torreira or not.
‘Football has to be divided into two parts, the sporting and the economic areas. In sporting terms, Torreira is perfect for Torino and he’d reunite with Marco Giampaolo after their time at Sampdoria.
‘At the same time, we must be realistic and admit Arsenal will have some very big demands, while Lucas’ salary is also a bit too high for Torino.’
