Torreira Rules Out Staying At Arsenal
Lucas Torreira has ruled out remaining an Arsenal player despite having one year remaining on his contract with the Gunners.
Torreira moved to the Emirates Stadium from Sampdoria in the summer of 2018 and made 50 appearances in all competitions in his debut season, scoring two goals.
He helped Arsenal win the FA Cup in his second season but has since fallen out of favour under Mikel Arteta, spending time on loan at Atletico Madrid and Fiorentina in the last two seasons.
Fiorentina had the option to make Torreira's deal permanent but they could not reach a compromise with Arsenal over the transfer fee and the Uruguayan is due to report back to England for pre-season training.
But Torreira maintains his chapter with Arsenal is closed and is looking for a permanent move away from the Emirates Stadium.
"There is no chance. From the beginning they told me that I didn't have a place," he told El Telegrafo.
"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."
Torreira begged Arsenal to sanction a move to Boca Juniors in order to be closer to his family in South America after losing his mother last summer but he knows it will be difficult to currently strike a deal with the Argentina side.
"Boca is very difficult," Torreira added.
"It was difficult after what happened to my mother and I really wanted to go there, then I had a very good season and I have one year left on my contract with Arsenal.
"Any team that wants me has to buy me, which would be around €15m, so that's why I see it as difficult, although I never lose hope. I feel a lot of love for that club and at some point I would like to play there."
