Arsenal: Nothing about Lucas Torreira leaving is surprising

Apparently, Lucas Torreira is responding favorably to an Arsenal exit. Which is in no way news and has been the case for at least a year now.

Lucas Torreira is reportedly being tipped for an Arsenal exit. Fans are discussing what this might mean and headlines are debating how plausible it is while preying on the report that Torreira has responded positively to the idea of an exit.

Okay. Great. At no point was I lead to believe that Torreira had any intention to stay. He did the right thing, put his head down, and tried to make this work after being so disenchanted that he sought an exit after just one year at the club. That didn’t work out. Now he’s completing his second year, a year that has been riddled with issues and insecurities, and he still wants out.

Honestly, it’s so obvious that he’s going to leave that I keep forgetting to factor him into the potential raisable transfer budget. I hate to say that I assume he’s already gone but… I kind of do.

Plain and simple, it just hasn’t worked out. In just about any way. Sure, it’s nice to have someone with his tenacity and determination. I love it. We all love it.

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But after two years, we’ve seen both his viability on the pitch and his desire to stay regress. He’s not been able to stay on the pitch and when he has, it was under Unai Emery, who tried to get more out of Torreira than he was prepared to give. He was being used against his strengths with the belief that he could be a stronger attacking option, which just didn’t pan out.

Since Mikel Arteta took over, he’s been looking for more versatile midfield options. That’s lead to a midfield duo of Granit Xhaka and Dani Ceballos, both of whom can claim some kind of attacking and defensive capacity.

Torreira has that, but it hasn’t developed. Part of the reason why has to come down to him just not liking it in England. Which was a poorly kept secret. Everyone knew he didn’t like it there. It rains, y’know?

Hearing that Torreira is leaving should be more exciting than dreadful. We will get a nice financial return on him that can be turned around and invest in a midfield that is closer to what Arteta needs rather than being an experiment that Unai Emery was never able to see to completion.