Gianluca Di Marzio suggests ball is in Arsenal’s court over future of linked-away player

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Arsenal midfielder Lucas Torreira is not looking to leave the Emirates Stadium amid reported interest from AC Milan, Italian journalist Gianluca Di Marzio has told Sky Sports.

The Uruguayan found consistent game time hard to come by for the Gunners earlier this season, with now-departed manager Unai Emery largely utilising him as a rotation player.

Although Torreira has featured more often for Arsenal after Emery’s exit, he still has just 15 Premier League starts this season, and speculation around his future has persisted.

Torreira, who signed for the Gunners in a £26million deal from Sampdoria in 2018, admitted in 2019 that he missed life in Italy as he criticised the weather in Britain, as reported by Metro.

However, Di Marzio says he cannot see Milan paying Arsenal’s £35million asking price (Corriere Dello Sport) for the 24-year-old, who in turn is seemingly not keen on leaving anyway.

“AC Milan wanted to sign Lucas Torreira last summer. He has never wanted to force a move to go back to Italy,” Di Marzio told Sky Sports, as relayed by Metro.

“He only listened to Milan’s proposal, but Arsenal immediately said he was not in the market and that they didn’t want to sell him.

“I don’t think Milan will spend €40million or €50million on Torreira to bring him back. I also don’t feel Torreira wants to come back to Italy just yet.

“He is very good player, so some offers may arrive for him and even then Arsenal will still decide what they want to do.”

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Torreira’s time at Arsenal under Emery wasn’t particularly fruitful – though his best role is that of defensive midfielder, the former boss often tried to deploy him as a box-to-box man, which didn’t exactly benefit him or the team.

Speaking to Calciomercato in November, Torreira’s agent Pablo Bentancur admitted that his client no longer felt “at ease” at Arsenal, with Tuttomercatoweb claiming that Milan were monitoring proceedings.

In the end, the Uruguayan stayed put and has been featuring more often under Mikel Arteta, and with his contract taking him to 2023, not to mention Di Marzio suggesting he’s in no rush to leave the Emirates Stadium, it looks as though the ball is very much in Arsenal’s court.