Arsenal: Selling Lucas Torreira, now that would be stupid

According to some reports in the media, AC Milan are readying a move for Lucas Torreira. Arsenal would really have to be stupid to sell.

Much has been made of the slew of sales that Unai Emery needs to make as he guts the Arsenal squad and lays down the foundations for his era at the club. There is a great need for ruthlessness in his decision making, to sell a whole raft of underperforming, overpaid stars to make room for hungry improving, and young replacements.

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However, that does not mean that every single player in the squad need be sold. There is a line, one that should not be crossed. It would not be ideal, for instance, if Emery sold Bernd Leno or Matteo Guendouzi or Alexandre Lacazette.

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But perhaps chief among those names of players not to sell is Lucas Torreira. The Uruguayan was signed in a £26 million move last summer. He has since developed into one of the key players of the team, anchoring the midfield alongside Granit Xhaka, playing with a tremendous energy and fire that is depressingly unique for Arsenal players. Now at just 23, it was presumed that we would develop into the linchpin of the midfield for the better part of the next decade.

However, on Tuesday, it was reported that AC Milan are considering a move for the scrappy, ankle-snapping midfielder. With Sampdoria head coach Marco Giampaolo expected to move to Milan this summer after Gennaro Gatusso’s departure, Torreira has reportedly been named as a key target, Giampaolo keen to reunite with his midfield anchor — take these reports with a fairly hefty grain of salt. It is The Sun who is currently leading the charge with them.

I have certainly been driving the train for Emery selling many of the players in the squad. Even those that others see as borderline, I am far more comfortable with Arsenal moving on from, including even Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, for the right price, of course. But with Torreira, there is no question: it would be stupid. Completely and utterly.

Even if Milan were offering £50 or £60 million for Torreira, I would not accept it. And that is not because that is an unfair price. It wouldn’t be. But finding a player of Torreira’s skill set and calibre is extremely difficult, no matter how much money you have to spend. In this case, it is not having the cash to afford a defence-shielding midfielder but more the supply.

How many elite defensive midfielders could you sign to replace Torreira, even with an extra £50 million to do so? There are not that many available options out there, and such is the importance of the position and the grave limitations of the other internal solutions, selling Torreira to fund moves at other areas also makes little sense.

All this leads me to say one fairly obvious thing: Selling Torreira would be completely and utterly stupid. But I am sure you do not need me to say that. Let’s hope, then, that Arsenal do not either.