AC Milan Interest in Lucas Torreira Is a Sale Arsenal Should Pursue

07 August 2020 02:25

AC Milan and Fiorentina are both eyeing up summer moves for Arsenal midfielder Lucas Torreira this summer.

Having only joined the club in the summer of 2018, he was used heavily by former boss Unai Emery in some, err, unorthodox positions, but has seen game time dwindle under Mikel Arteta.

Per the Telegraph, the aforementioned Serie A duo are plotting a move for the Uruguayan, with Milan having also done so in the previous window. Torreira has previously discussed his struggles in adapting to English life having moved from Sampdoria, with Arsenal eager to sell.

Why are Arsenal willing to sell him? It's a simple answer, really: they need better players.

This does not, of course, mean that Torreira is a bad player. Far from it. In his debut season with the club he was quite excellent, with that tenacious spirit of his winning over the Arsenal fans in record time – not to mention his goal against Tottenham, which won't be forgotten in a hurry.

However, Emery's baffling insistence on playing him as a number ten and the injuries that followed have stunted his progress, with Arteta now preferring to field Granit Xhaka in the holding role with Dani Ceballos the creator alongside him.

Midfield is an area of the squad that yearns for substantial surgery. Thomas Partey is the name that's been buzzing around the air like a petulant bee for quite some time, but Atletico Madrid are not willing to budge. It's his £45m release clause or bust.

In order to bring him - or any midfield reinforcements on the club's radar - Arsenal must raise funding from player sales. Precious few members of the team are indispensable, but the fiery holding midfielder doesn't fit into that bracket. An overview of the whole squad suggests very few actually do.

Recent history acts as a painful reminder that the assets the club possess are few and far between. At least, those who could command any half decent fee. What Arsenal have in Torreira is a player keen on a move elsewhere, there are interested clubs in him, but most of all, a solid 24-year-old with three years left on his contract. That's money the club can't ignore. Especially since they're after at least what they paid - £26m.

Finances are tight. Tight enough that the club needed to make 55 staff redundant, although fan feelings on that are best left for another piece.

A considerable overhaul is in the pipeline. Arteta has hinted, nudged and flirted with the notion, until he outright said 'listen here we need better players, end of'. Not quite verbatim, but close enough. Generally what we've seen from Arteta's short reign at the club is that when he says something, it tends to come true. Whether it was weeding out the bad eggs - frilly haired ones - or confidently claiming that players were due to sign new contracts - Saka - he's been pretty spot on thus far.

Same applies in the recruitment side, where he needs to flush out a heap of deadwood in order to plant some Hector Bellerin-inspired brand new trees. In order to do so players will need to leave, Torreira being of them.

It would be a sad departure. His time in north London has littered with cultural concerns and calamitous choices from his former manager, but he's always worn his heart on the sleeve. Little wonder he endeared himself to supporters so quickly.

However, to set course for new shores, there has to be departures. In terms of those to help that rebuild, the man who's 'only five foot high' needs to make way. Plenty do, in fairness, he's just one of them.

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Source: 90min