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‘Madness’ – Midfielder lifts lid on Arsenal dressing room with summer move shaping up

Lucas Torreira described his experience of the Arsenal dressing room as “madness” amid a report claiming his summer exit is on the cards.

The Uruguayan, 26, is currently on a season-long loan in Italy with Fiorentina. Torreira was initially signed in 2018 to infuse Arsenal’s midfield with steel and bite. But despite encouraging early displays, Torreira’s career in north London failed to ignite.

Indeed, Torreira was loaned out to Atletico Madrid last season before again being farmed out on a temporary basis for the current campaign.

Fiorentina reportedly hold an option to make his loan spell permanent to the tune of £12.8m. And if the Daily Mirror’s reporting is anything to go by, that’s exactly what will transpire in the summer.

Their headline states Torreira is in the process of cutting ties with Arsenal. That stems from a report centring on an open letter Torreira has recently penned in the Italian media.

Writing in Cronache Di Spogliatoio, Torreira opened up on being surrounded by bona-fide superstars in the Arsenal dressing room.

“Ozil and Lacazette sat next to me… madness” – Torreira

The Uruguayan described sitting amongst the likes of Mesut Ozil and Alexandre Lacazette as “madness” while admitting he spoke no English during his first year at the club.

Torreira also shared a heart-warming story about seeing the name of his hometown on the aisles of London supermarkets. Torreira was born in Fray Bentos in Uruguay and the city shares a name with a brand of tinned meat products in the UK.

“Every time I go to the national team, I try to make the most of my proximity to certain champions,” wrote Torreira.

“I have been lucky enough to meet many of them. At Arsenal, the first year, I didn’t speak English, but some in the team spoke Italian, like Sokratis, Stephan Lichtsteiner and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

“In the dressing room, Mesut Ozil and Alexandre Lacazette sat next to me. Madness.

“You can imagine: me drinking mate [A south American drink], and them next to me. Here we are, in London.

“Remember when I told you about Fray Bentos meat? I didn’t leave the house much, I had a person who often brought me shopping.

“One day, I go to the supermarket. When browsing the shelves, I see a label with the name of my city: ‘Made in Fray Bentos’. Just like me. A village of 25,000 inhabitants in the London aisles. It was thrilling. It was a tin, yes, but it was exciting.”

While Torreira’s words do not exactly suggest his Arsenal career is over, the Mirror seem convinced he won’t return to the club next season.

Behind that line of thinking could be the fact Arsenal tried to use Torreira as a makeweight when striving to sign Dusan Vlahovic from Fiorentina in January.

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Meanwhile, a move to Arsenal is reportedly the ‘minimum’ for Club Brugge star Noa Lang this summer, with the winger almost certain to quit the Belgian club.

The 22-year-old has already revealed his intention to move on, with Brugge ready to ‘cash in’, according to Het Belang van Limburg back in January. De Standaard then reported that Lang’s exit is a ‘forgone conclusion’, with a switch to the Gunners the ‘minimum’ requirement.

Lang has scored eight goals and added 12 assists in all competitions so far this season. Now, Brugge club legend Gert Verheyen has now discussed the player’s future. The former Belgium international believes that the attacker will not look at a mid-table English club if he does leave.

“It is difficult to predict whether he will also achieve the very highest – which he aspires to. He will not dream of clubs like Brighton. But the question is whether clubs like Arsenal or Tottenham will come this summer,” Verheyen told Het Nieuwsblad.

Jeunes Footeux, meanwhile, states that the Gunners are still ‘keeping an eye on Noa Lang’.

The report adds that Lang is also being ‘closely watched’ by Leicester, although Arsenal have been monitoring him for ‘several months’.

Brugge are expecting to fetch a fee of around €35-40m if Lang does indeed move on this summer.

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