Star player Arsenal sold for £5.5m in August is already in talks for profitable exit
Galatasaray are already in talks with Lazio over a possible deal to sell Lucas Torreira during January. The midfielder only agreed a transfer to the Super Lig side from Arsenal in August.
That is according to Sporx, which reports Lazio are eager to coax Torreira back to Italy four months after joining Galatasaray. He spent last season in Serie A on loan to Fiorentina and previously played for Pescara and Sampdoria. Arsenal bought the Uruguayan in July 2018.
Unai Emery paid Sampdoria £26m for Torreira’s transfer to Arsenal but the Gunners only recouped £5.5m from Galatasaray this August. Mikel Arteta accepted a huge loss to move the 26-year-old on having let 40-cap anchor enter the final year of his contract at the club.
Torreira fell out of favour at Emirates Stadium following Arteta’s appointment to the helm in place of Emery in December 2019. He amassed 89 appearances for the Gunners but only featured 17 times under Arteta before securing a loan move to Atletico Madrid in 2020/21.
Now, Torreira is a key part of the Galatasaray set-up with 14 appearances from a potential 16 games. He had to sit out their 2-1 win at Sivasspor on Thursday due to an accumulation of yellow cards. He has also started 13 of his outings having featured once as a substitute.
GALATASARAY WILL EYE A PROFIT ON TORREIRA’S TRANSFER FROM ARSENAL TO GO TO LAZIO
Yet Lazio hope Galatasaray will cash in on Torreira at the first chance they get having held talks over the Arsenal flop’s transfer. But Cimbom have rejected the Biancocelesti’s initial offer worth €7m (£6m). Yet Lazio are undeterred and will submit an improved bid shortly.
Torreira had wanted to join Lazio from Arsenal this summer before securing his transfer to Galatasaray, as well. Alfredo Pedulla reported in June that the Uruguayan offered himself to Maurizio Sarri’s team for the second successive summer. But no deal would materialise.
Now, though, he could get the move to the Stadio Olimpico that the 26-year-old originally hoped for earlier this year. Yet with his contract running through to 2026, Galatasaray can chase a greater profit to sell Torreira to Lazio from what they paid Arsenal for his transfer.