In what could be one of the surprises of Arsenal’s summer, Lucas Torreira will join up with the Arsenal squad ahead of the US tour. The Uruguayan is expected to return alongside a number of other senior figures on Monday.
Torreira has spent the last two seasons away from Arsenal on loan with Atletico Madrid and Fiorentina. He excelled in Italy and won three player of the month awards.
However, La Viola decided against activating his purchase clause and instead tried to negotiate a lower fee with both the club and player. An attempt that was shut down by Arsenal and instead Torreira’s future was left hanging in the balance.
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Arsenal have been linked with a number of midfielders, but Torreira’s exit was almost certain. Despite this, he now looks set to join the Gunners on their tour of the United States according to his agent.
“Torreira to Juve? In fact, he would like to stay and play in Italy, but today Arsenal has called him up for the tour they will do in America, so he seems to be part of the program,” explained Torreira’s agent to Sport Italia via JuventusNews24.
There has been interest from the likes of Roma, Lazio and Valencia but nothing close enough to see the Gunners receives a concrete offer. Torreira’s last words on the subject would contradict a potential appearance for Arsenal though.
“There is no chance,” he told El Telgrafo when asked about a possible Arsenal stay. “From the beginning, they told me that I didn’t have a place, so I don’t want to stay either because I suffered a lot, it cost me a lot to adapt, and my idea is to go to Italy or Spain.”
“What I wanted was to stay at Fiorentina, but it didn’t happen for various reasons. So we’ll look for a new direction.”
Arteta spoke after the first preseason match of the summer and said that there were plenty of players whose futures were not certain. But that all would be given an opportunity to fight for their place.
“What I said to them on the first day is that they are Arsenal players,” said Arteta. “Things change dramatically in football from one day to another and you have to be prepared for that. If any of those players want to take the opportunity, the door is open and they will have to earn it. It’s no different to any other player in the squad.”
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