A lot of Arsenal’s transfer business has taken some time to complete this summer, both with sales and new signings.
The signings of Gabriel and Willian took weeks to get over the line, but it finally looks like clearing out the deadwood is the main priority just now, while the fans will be hoping it’s clearing up some space for one or two new faces.
Sokratis looks set to leave after Arsenal agreed to let him go for free, but the situation with Lucas Torreira makes it sound like it might take a while to reach a conclusion:
Lucas Torreira has agreed personal terms with Atlético Madrid. He’s keen to join but agreement with Arsenal has not been reached yet: Atléti need to sell Hector Herrera to sign Torreira. ??? #AFC #Atleti #transfers @MatteMoretto
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) September 23, 2020
If Arsenal are relying on sales to buy new players then this shows how hard that’s going to be, because every transfer has a multitude of issues that could stop it going through.
You have to think there is a deal to be done here as Lucas Torreira doesn’t appear to be in Arteta’s plans, but relying on Herrera leaving could also make this a difficult one to pull off.
It’s worth pointing out that if Atleti need to sell a midfielder to make this happen that Arsenal would be delighted to take Thomas Partey off their hands, but this looks like this could take some time to finalise.