Arsenal: No concern with Lucas Torreira medical delay

Lucas Torreira will delay his Arsenal medical until after the World Cup according to his father, Ricardo Torreira. It is nothing to be concerned about.

Arsenal have had a move for Lucas Torreira on the table for some time. The Sampdoria midfielder attracted the interest of Sven Mislintat and Raul Sanllehi with his snappy, biting performances in the Serie A last season. Unai Emery then agreed with their assessment, gave the green light for a bid, and negotiations got underway.

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In the end, a £26 million fee, approximately £5 million more than his release clause, was settled on due to the Gunners’ need to pay the fee over the course of the contract, rather than in one upfront fee, and the club and the player discussed personal terms once the fee was agreed upon.

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That all happened during the course of the last month. And, for all intents and purposes, everything has been wrapped up for two or three weeks now. The only remaining hoop to jump through is the medical. And Torreria’s father, Ricardo Torreira, speaking with Fox Sports Argentina, revealed that he and his son had agreed to delay the medical until after the World Cup:

"“It is as good as a fact that Lucas will join Arsenal. There are many clubs who contacted us but we have given our word to Arsenal and are very satisfied with what they offered. The deal is virtually done and only the arrival of Lucas is remaining. Arsenal offered to do the medical examinations in Russia but we decided against it because we felt it’s inconvenient, it is not the right time.”"

This is nothing to be concerned about, really. I am sure the tabloids will try to spin this is as a crisis at the crunch time of the move, trying to garner hits out of terrified fans, but there is not really anything to this story.

Essentially, Torreira and his representatives have decided to solely focus on Uruguay’s World Cup ventures, which continue with a tantalising quarter-final against France on Friday. And that is not a stupid decision whatsoever.

After initially, starting on the bench, Torreira has forced his way into the starting line-up, starting in the past two games for the South Americans, including an excellent performance against Portugal in the Round of 16 in which he shackled Cristiano Ronaldo with his busy, ankle-snapping style.

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So yes, it would be nice if Torreira would complete his north London switch quickly and efficiently. Yes, it would be nice to not have long, drawn-out saga. Yes, it would be nice to not have to worry about its completion, especially given the transfer history of this club. But, for now, there is nothing to be concerned about. We must all simply be patient.