Why Arsenal must part ways with Lucas Torreira on a permanent basis
A report by La Nazionale via Sport Witness (h/t football.london) states that Arsenal loanee Lucas Torreira is looking for a new club in the upcoming January transfer window.
Torino and Fiotentina were both interested in signing Torreira in the summer, but they could not offer a direct transfer. The Uruguayan later agreed to join Atletico Madrid on a one-year loan deal. (h/t football.london)
Profile
Born in February 1996, Lucas Torreira started his senior career at Serie B side Pescara in 2014. He then agreed to join Serie A side Sampdoria in 2015, but was loaned back to Pescara for a year to gain some first-team experience.
He made 74 appearances for Sampdoria in his two seasons at the club and helped them to consecutive top-10 finishes in the league. His big move came in July 2018 when Arsenal agreed to sign him for £26million.
He was subsequently loaned to La Liga side Atletico Madrid in the summer of 2020, where he is currently playing. Torreira has also made 26 senior appearances for the Uruguayan national team. (h/t transfermarkt)
Arsenal have enough central midfielders
Arsenal have an array of midfielders in their squad as of now. At the start of this season, the club had Mohamed Elneny and Granit Xhaka in midfield. On top of that, they bought Thomas Partey from Atletico Madrid and loaned Dani Ceballos from Real Madrid.
The club also have young blood fighting for playing time. Joe Willock and Emile Smith Rowe have both just entered their 20s and are impressing manager Mikel Arteta with their displays in midfield.
In the midst of all this, Torreira finds himself isolated from the first-team. This is why the club opted to let the 24-year-old leave the club on loan. The sudden change in the club’s attitude towards Torreira actually came as a surprise.
He had appeared in 63 Premier League matches for the team in the past two campaigns. A change of managers at Arsenal can explain this turn of events. Unai Emery preferred having Torreira in his midfield, but Arteta apparently does not.
Torreira does not offer what Arsenal need
Arsenal’s interest in Houssem Aouar of Lyon was on the back of most newspapers. The Gunners have been atrocious going forward, having scored just 2 goals in their last 8 Premier League matches. Arsenal’s attackers are not entirely to blame for this.
Arsenal’s midfield is not coming up with the required creativity. In such a situation, the midfielder Arteta would be looking for might be the opposite of someone like Torreira.
Torreira has just 3 Premier League assists for the club in the past two seasons. His heatmap further goes on to show his affinity for the defensive side of the game. With all these things considered, selling Lucas Torreira permanently seems like the best solution for Arsenal.
Not only will Arteta manage to free up his wage bill, but any incoming transfer amount from his sale would also assist them in their quest to strengthen the squad in key departments.
