Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has admitted the club have been in contact with Lucas Torreira over his transfer situation.
The Uruguay international is currently out on loan from Arsenal at Atletico Madrid, and the Daily Mirror note that he’s recently declared an intention to move to Boca Juniors.
They state, however, that Arteta has responded by calling for calm from Torreira, who will no doubt be in an emotional state right now following the sad news of the recent death of his mother.
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Torreira may understandably be keen to move back to South America to be closer to family, and he’s never quite settled at Arsenal anyway.
Still, it seems Arteta has made it clear that he doesn’t think Torreira should rush into a decision right now.
“We have contacted him, we have spoken to him. We know how much of a difficult time this is for him,” Arteta is quoted by the Mirror.
“He was really attached to his Mum and with his family and it’s a hard time for him emotionally.
There is a lot of thoughts and things that goes through his mind but… ‘tranquilo’ when things are like that it is not the moment to make decisions.
“I understand how he’s feeling emotionally his need and responsibility to be closer to his family but this is not the moment to make any decision.
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“Certainly it’s a decision that will have to be made by different parties and now nothing is going to change.”
It will be interesting to see what happens with Torreira, who doesn’t seem likely to become a regular at the Emirates Stadium any time soon, despite showing some initial promise when he first joined the Gunners.
The 25-year-old has also struggled for playing time with loan club Atletico Madrid this season, so might do well to move on again as soon as he can.