Arsenal need to free up space before making other signings because we have too many men on the roster. The Premier League home-grown player rules mean that the Gunners have to part ways with 2 players before registering another one.
This means selling the likes of Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Rob Holding won't make any difference because they are local lads, and Arsenal have to shift non-homegrown players.
Hence, we have to part ways with someone else, and, given our midfield department is overcrowded, it appears Lucas Torreira will be the one to go.
The diminutive enforcer made 17 Premier League starts last season but his playtime has diminished after the arrival of Mikel Arteta. So there are rumours linking the 24-year-old with a return to Italy, with Fiorentina and Torino on high alert.
The Guardian's Fabrizio Romano, one of the most reliable journalists out there, insists Arsenal are open to the idea of loaning out the Uruguayan for one season. They also consider the option of selling him for £18m.
🔴 Space for Partey or Aouar
The Gunners' transfer priorities are well-known: we need a reinforcement in the centre of the park. We'll sign either Thomas Partey or Houssem Aouar.
Let's say Arsenal offload Sokratis and Kolasinac. In this case, we'll have been still stuck with too many central midfielders anyway. Ceballos has just arrived, Xhaka is a world-beater under Arteta, and Ainsley Maitland-Niles is too versatile to be sacrificed.
Guendouzi is an under-21 player so letting him go won't influence our squad registration stand-off. Ozil has made it clear he is not going to leave. It's a battle between Elneny and Torreira, and we earlier discussed why Mohamed appears more likely to survive this fight.
Next summer, Ozil's and Ceballos' contract with the Gunners will expire so the club won't have this dilemma; yet Lucas looks expendable while Dani and Mesut are here.
🔴 Torreira's value will go up
Lucas will likely rediscover his best form on loan. He was a great player in the Serie A, and spoke fondly of Italian weather, language, and food. The 24-year-old adapted well to Italian football and will find it easy to set out his stall for a productive season on the boot-shaped peninsula.
Right now, Arsenal are supposedly ready to sell him for £18m (we paid £26.5m for Torreira two years ago). The drop in price could be explained by the pandemic: the Italian economy has been one of the hardest-hit financially in Europe so Serie A clubs can't spend as much as they used to.
Yet next summer, when fans will hopefully have been allowed into stands, revenues will rise, football will rebound from the crisis and Serie A sides will be ready to splash the cash again.
🔴 A year away may benefit Lucas
We don't know the exact reasons why Torreira seems to have fallen out of Arteta's favour but the boss always speaks he picks his XI by merit and dedication shown in training.
No one doubts Lucas is a quality player – so spending a year away from the Emirates may give him strength and motivation to try harder when he returns.
In a way, the Uruguayan can do an Elneny: join another side on loan, expect to be sold, and then defy the odds with a remontada, an unlikely comeback.
While this sounds like an improbable scenario, if someone told you one year ago Mo Elneny would get a start ahead of Ceballos and shine, would you believe this person? No – but Mohamed did exactly that, and Torreira can follow the Egyptian's path by taking a step back in order to take a huge leap forward.
