Arsenal: If Lucas Torreira wants to go, sale the only option

There are growing murmurings that Lucas Torreira would like to leave Arsenal this summer. If that is the case, a sale might be the only option.

Keeping unhappy players rarely ends well. Arsenal have discovered this in the past, most recently with Alexis Sanchez who first bummed out for six months and then depreciated his value to the extent that he was traded for an unwanted Manchester United reserve. But there are plenty of other examples from around the world where preventing the departure of players who want to leave backfires, no matter how brilliant the player may be.

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Just this summer, for instance, Chelsea chose to sell Eden Hazard. Liverpool allowed Philippe Coutinho to leave. Spurs sold Gareth Bale. Manchester United allowed Cristiano Ronaldo to depart. In all of these examples, the clubs felt it better to sell than to keep.

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However, what is crucial to note is that they sold for the best possible price. In every instance, these players were sold for the very maximum of their value. That is what made selling the smart move. Yes, keeping unhappy players can carry a negative atmosphere throughout the dressing room, but a sale only makes sense if their value is exploited to its greatest extent — this, crucially is something that Arsenal have missed regarding the sale of their best players.

All this brings me to Lucas Torreira. Signed just last summer in a £26 million move from Sampdoria, the Uruguayan established himself as a sure-fire piece of the future. He settled into life in the Premier League quickly, showing tremendous defensive instincts, speed, dogged application and a quality on the ball that was not previously advertised. Torreira, by all accounts, was set to be a cornerstone in north London for many years.

But this summer, there have been murmurings that he is not overly comfortable with life in London. His girlfriend, Vittoria Repetto, is reportedly not happy with life in England, Torreira would like to reunite with his Sampdoria boss Marco Giampaolo, who will be leading AC Milan next season, and his agent suggested this would be an exciting possibility.

Whether Torreira does actually want to leave the club or not, it is difficult to say with any certainty. These rumours are little more than whispered suggestions. But if Torreira does want to leave, selling might end up being the only option for Arsenal to come out of this situation positively.

Yes, selling a key piece of the central midfield who has the best part of a decade at his peak is not ideal, but if Torreira wants to leave and he is willing to kick up a fuss, which is not completely impossible to fathom, Arsenal will undoubtedly be better served by selling this summer, especially because it is this summer that they will be able to maximise their value.

Selling Torreira for the sake of it is certainly not a smart move. But if the relationship goes south and he will not commit next season, a sale, before he has eroded his value, becomes the best option, however infuriating and backwards that may seem.