Transfer target Lucas Torreira has talked up Arsenal as a potential destination as rumours of his transfer to North London intensify, but insists he’s focusing only on the World Cup for now.
The 22 year old has made two substitute appearances for Uruguay in Russia so far, and will continue into the knock-out rounds after they secured their qualification with a 1-0 win over Saudi Arabia yesterday.
The Sampdoria man spoke to the Independent after the game, and was asked if he was set to become an Arsenal player.
“No, I don’t know, ” he said. “At the moment, the most important thing is playing for my country.
“Arsenal are a good team, one of the most important in the world, but at this moment I am focused on playing for my country.”
The question came after the Italian side’s president, Massimo Ferrero, seemed to reveal that an agreement had been found over his departure – although he stopped short of mentioning Arsenal.
Speaking earlier this week, Ferrero said, “Torreira has left for €30million, I bought him from Pescara when nobody believed in him.
“We took a gamble on him and we won, paying just €3million. The money that comes in will be used to capitalise the company.”
He had also been linked with a move to Napoli, but it does seem as if the midfielder will become an Arsenal player after the World Cup, barring no last minute hitches.
Get it done!
OH GOD THE SUSPENSE
Looks like a Coquelin type, but with the ability to receive and move the ball on quickly from the defence. Optimistic about this signing and really enjoying the way we’re going about business!
He has so much more football in his legs than Coq,
also doesn’t seem to go into some crazy-stupid tackles, which is a plus
I like that. There needs to be more players with a lot of football in their legs. Can it be done surgically? Or is it more of a genetic trait?
This and the links to Banega suggest we’re moving to a three man midfield. Either Ozil adapts? Or he leaves? I bet we’re regretting the £320,000 p/w at this stage. Wonderful footballer who can be a real joy to watch, but I’ve long felt that he’s not worth adapting the team for. Emery’s biggest challenge will be putting together a functional team, so for me Ozil needs to be sacrificed, along with one of Lacazette/Aubameyang. Not a popular opinion I imagine… but I got nothing but abuse for saying we should get shot of Wilshere and I was right then… Read more »
So you want to get rid of our most creative player and one of the best strikers in Europe. Yes your right I can’t see that being very popular. We want to improve the team not make it weaker.
Yes I don’t think Ozil on the wing protecting Bellerin makes much sense, and the business we’re doing with contract renewals and potential signings? suggest a three man midfield, and I’m not sure Ozil is suited to a pressing system. We have two good strikers in Aubameyang and Lacazette, but neither are going to be content with limited playing time, or playing second fiddle or shunted out wide and again being asked to do a job their not particularly comfortable with. I’m not sure we should accommodate any players in exchange for a non functioning team, we’ve had enough of… Read more »
Unlike your name, u are so poor in thoughts and tactics.
Rich argument’s make perfect sense. It depends on how you view a team basically: A collective of talented individuals that you try to fit in the team at all costs or a collective unit that is better than the sums of it’s parts. Both point of views are perfectly acceptable.
So Goongot, lay off the insults and please grace us with your superior thought and tactics instead.
Back when we had Nicolas Anelka, he was the Kylian Mbappe of that era – by far the best young striker in world. Selling him allowed us to buy someone called Thierry Henry and fund construction of much-needed modern training facilities at the club. We lost a truly great player, but we got better. As a self-sustaining club we can’t afford to think in terms of who’s “popular”, we have to think about who’s valuable. If the club decides to sell Laca or even Ozil to upgrade the *overall* quality of the squad, we should give the club our backing.… Read more »
Actually Wenger did not sell Anelka to buy Henry. His dream was to play them both together but sadly that never happened due to Anelka wishing to leave and admittedly we made a great profit. I see no benefit in selling our best players which would not be an upgrade. I cannot think of any replacements better than Lacazette or Ozil that would improve the team.
You’re right, thanks for the correction.
We all have an emotional connection to Laca and Ozil. But 5 clubs finished above us because we may have better individuals, but they have much better teams.
Football is not an individual sport. We need to get better as a team, and if that means sacrificing some of our faves, I hope Emery has the balls to do it.
I still don’t get why we would have to move on Auba Laca or Ozil to become a better team. They can certainly play in a front 3, either with Ozil as one of the wide, a two striker setup with him floating as a #10 with 3 mids behind / around him, or several other options.
If you’re all thinking about money, well, just don’t. I say we takes ALL the players, and let the club worry about it.
You don’t improve a team by sacrificing the best players. It’s not a question of emotional attachment.
If, that’s really your way of seeing, I invite you to learn about the concept of Moneyball! The perfect example is the sale of Coutinho in Barcelona. It allowed Liverpool to make a profit in order to strengthen himself in positions where he was having trouble. The purchase of Virgil van Dijk allowed them to stabilize their defense while retaining their fire attack which was full of talent. Sportingly, it allowed them to better appear in PL and CL without it not sure he would have been so far. In addition, the profits generated by this sale will be used… Read more »
Kaius.. you’re absolutely right about team. Let’s see the the assist king in a functioning team.. it will be epic, you’ll be so happy to be wrong!
Emery played Mbappe, Neymar and Cavani at PSG.
He had a 40 goal a season striker in Cavani And the owner spent £200mill on one of the worlds top 3 players, and €165mill the worlds best teenager, not sure he had much choice? it was the case of trying to juggle huge egos, whilst keeping his boss happy. Can’t see Kroenke sanctioning that type of spending spree, the signings we’re looking at point to us becoming a well drilled, organised outfit with an experienced first 11 with big young talent coming up and learning for tactically astute seasoned professionals and coaches. Looking at Emery interviews It’s clear he’s… Read more »
Layoff the fantasy football Rich.
Look at them names….
There’s a good chance at least 6/7 is happening
Man City have Aguero, Jesus, KDB, Silva, Sane and Sterling, and none of them seem to be complaining. And stop thinking about money, Arsenal can afford it…
All we need is a good coach capable of tactics, and I hope we have that with Emery!
ozil protecting bellerin makes no sense at all, I cant see ozil protecting anyone, he is too wrapped up in himself, IF he is to stay in the team then he has got to improve 100 %, or he is a gonna
our most creative player, ha, ha, ha, our most creative player is leaving, if we want to improve the team, we have got to get rid of ozil
You’re wrong….you should be careful the last person to abuse Ozil got the sack, isn’t that right Lothar?
Özil will probably play on the right wing.
The thing is, we need a dribbler. Neither Özil, Mkhi or Iwobi is esp good 1 on 1.
If Özil is to play on a wing, we gotta get ourselves a pacy dribbler on the other wing. Otherwise, we’ll be too predictable against low defending teams.
Agree…we are too industrial with the current midfield, need someone skip past midfielders/tackles, dribble and hold the ball when there are no options to pass up front. Probably have to spend well over 50 mill on one of those…or we can just play the Jeff.
Enter stage Danny Welbeck?
If he could just stay fit, Welbeck does have some nice fancy footwork and good pace and power to dribble… Thing is he loses steam when he isn’t consistently playing.
I’m sure not many would agree with me, but I believe this is the case.
I think you might’ve lost people with the “fancy football” part.
or even “footwork”.
wellbeck is not up to arsenals standards, he is a mid table player at best
There’s one pacy dribbler known as Aubameyang. Sign him up!
I agree with what you say, ( apart from the wilshere bit ) yes we must be regretting paying ozil that ridiculous amount of money, but its because of wengers ego that we did, and also with the money we got for him we could strengthen the team even more, win, win
I think it’s a bit comical how everyone screams that we need depth, but then we try to push the likes of Elneny and Iwobi out the door.
My favorite is when we signed bot PEA and Lacazzete in the same year and supporters were saying that we NEED to fit them both in the starting XI or one needs to go.
I personally love that we are a team that is not only filling holes, but snapping up opportunities for depth as well.
It did occur that these signings suggest a three-man central midfield – Xhaka, Elneny, Ramsey, Torreira, Maitland-Niles and Banega being our options – but I don’t necessarily think that means the end of Ozil. Emery may have a midfield diamond in mind. We also don’t know whether he intends to play three or four at the back, which will have an impact.
I don’t think anyone apart from the detractors have thought about Ozil leaving
There seems to be a real obsession with a ‘first 11’. Yes, we might have 11 players that are individually better than the rest, but I’m hoping for much less rigidity than that under Emery. Different line ups for different oppositions. And our formations are always very interchangeable, with players intelligent enough to work it out as per the situation in the match.
Emery and his team are really doing well to give us these options.
As we’re light on wingers, perhaps he’s planning a 4-4-2 diamond formation with Özil on top of the diamond, and Lacazette and Aubameyang together up top?
Does the Banega saga is linked to those Maybe, maybe not stories? The president said he is gone for €30m but Napoli may have put that on the table with the sale of Jorginho. It will show our ability to get our man. For my part if we get Banega instead of Torreira it would represent a failure from the current board.
He told the Spanish press that he wanted to stay in place !
i know we need a balance of youth and experience in the team, but I’m much more excited about signings of this lad’s age bracket.
You never know what they’re capable of developing into, or how high their ceiling is.
I think we’re buying / linked with players who will help Ozil to play. Torreira, Lichsteiner and possibly Banega, a disciplined Xhaka are all clearly players who will enjoy niggly and intense games. The sort of players who could free Ozil, Lacazette and Aubameyang to get on with scoring goals…
Ozil will be sold to China where he can cope with the physicality.
Ozil copes very nicely as the most creative player for Arsenal and Germany.
You are obviously right, Martin.
But that’s not the narrative. Moronic (usually British) pundits bitch about Ozil b/c he’s not Mr. Blood’n’Guts. And being largely idiots, don’t watch the whole game.
He’s an amazing player. Works much harder off the ball then anyone wants to give him credit for, amazing vision, creates loads of chances, and scores goals. But he doesn’t “get stuck in, Oiy” and doesn’t fly about the pitch acting like a carnival barker. So, he’s a target. Its just dumb.
Ozil doesn’t score enough goals at all. You’re as biaised as the pundits you were criticizing.
Great creative player, can put a bit more efforts on the pitch and score more summarizes the man better.
Oh! Dear. More Ozil bashing. He’s never been a great scorer but a brilliant creator. The fallacy of him not working hard enough is proved by the statistics that show his work rate is as high as any other player. Do you know he was German player of the year for 3 out of 4 years.
Please stop making me laugh.
For move 10km, he knows how to be in order to enter the tables Excel but in no case he takes part in the defensive phases leaving his teammate take over the trouble.
To play with conviction and determination there, there is no one !
When he is doing pressing or walking late or systematically leaving him free to do what he wants is not normal “floppy football”.
why are hazard and silva not getting the stick from media for not tracking back? Ozil is by far the best player arsenal has had since rvp.
Irish pundits too.. drives me fucking crazy. “My friend told me he doesn’t work hard “ type of bullshit.
It’s nice to have players said creative, but if they are unable to play under pressure adversary, it will not be very useful to his team especially if he is not able to participate in the defensive phases. On the contrary, he will shine and his team will grow up.
Should he shine in the big game!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9p1KRg1zg3k
Leno
Bellerin Socrates Chambers Monreal
Torriera. Xhaka
Ramsey/Mkhi Ozil Auba
Lacazette
Don’t lose against top 5 away
We will be okay
Can’t see why so many thumbs down.
Because you’re taking away the most potent 15-yard striker in Europe and shunting him out to the wing..
You mean like Klopp does with Salah?
Exactly, if we can get good money back in for one of them? And replace with a top wide player? Leaving Welbeck+Nketiah as competition, then we’d have navigated our squad in a better direction
What if Ramsey and Ozil exchange positions as does laca and auba as per situations ?????????
Not sure how things will eventually line up after this transfer window but the way I see it the team might well be more like this:
Leno/ Cech
Bellerin Sokratis Chambers Monreal
Torreira Xhaka
Miki Ramsey Özil
Auba
Difficult to see Laca starting with Auba there but he could end up being a super sub or a starter in our cup games
I think one of the greatest strikers in Europe is much too good to be a super sub.
So Martin you agree with me? Lacazette won’t be happy being a super sub? We surely didn’t buy Aubameyang a 40 goal a season striker to play him outwide? Then if you want to play them together? You have to move a player you consider to be one of the best No10s in the world into a position he’s not entirely comfortable with, and his skill set isn’t really suited too. I’m not saying their not good players, I’m implying that nobody has shown me a way of fitting all the parts together that makes any sense. Something has to… Read more »
Nonsense. You want to dispense with 2 world class players. Ozil would be my first name on the team sheet every time.
Well tell me how you fit all three in your first 11?
Or how you convince them that being a super sub is the way forward
When you’ve sold Laca who will you play when Auba is at the AFCON? We don’t need eleven players, we need a full squad, Laca and Auba can play together or rotate. It would be utter lunacy to get rid of either of them or Mesut who’s the best creator in the league. We have struggled for years because our manager was using about fifteen players a season and running them into the ground, it’s exciting that the club seems to be putting together a full squad of useful players. Some are stars, some are wise heads and some are… Read more »
The ANC is now played in summer and not mid-season.
I’m not advocating selling Ozil+Lacazette and not replacing them, I’m suggesting that instead of playing a No10 as a right winger which he isn’t, moving him on and buying an actual right/left winger/midfielder.
Same with Lacazette, if we can get money back in and replace him with someone like Martial? Then it’d make sense, because Martial is a versatile player who can play anywhere across the front line, Where Lacazette Is a striker and Aubameyang is really a wide forward, he’s a 40 goal a season striker
Give up Rich trying to sell one of the best strikers in Europe. Lacazette has shown he is a versatile striker and has proved it over the years. Martial at the moment is a promising player but still nowhere near the class of Lacazette who was our top scorer last season despite his time out injured. We need all the fire power possible and a proved player is better than a good prospect
Nothing has to give Rich, having 2 fantastic strikers is a plus for us as it gives us options, just like Man-City. Just imagine Auba out for 4 months, and then what… Anyways, the best players always find a way to work together.
Then it would have to be either Miki or Xhaka who gives way. If we ended up signing Banega we’d have incredible strength in depth
Yeah… no to Auba on the wing. It should be a 4-3-3 or 4-3-1-2 (if we start Laca and Auba together), Torreira/Xhaka/Ramsey in the midfield three.
Second option was my thought.
Xhaka’s new contract, Emery saying Ramsey is a key player in his team, and us bringing in Torreira suggests we’re going to play a three man midfield. This suggests Emery will use the 4-3-3 formation he used at PSG, where Mbappe and Neymar played as the “wing-forwards” who moved into the centre behind the main striker while PSG was in possession, while maintaining a position on the wing, in a 4-1-4-1 formation, when the team was defending. Also, the fact that Emery prefers high pressing, suggests that Ozil may not be perfect for his team, and he may prefer Auba/Laca… Read more »
Hope he stays injury free and has a great world cup.
Torreira wins the ball deep, plays short to Xhaka, Xhaka launches a diagonal to Ozil, Ozil releases Aubameyang with a first touch back heel flick.
… Aubameyang crosses the half way line, seeing no one ahead of him turns back and lays it off to Bellerin, who lets the ball run under his foot for an opposition throw.
Aubameyaaaaaang, he shoots, he scores! What a sublime finish! Surely now, Guardiola’s city are well and truly beaten…
A man can dream
I’m afraid we could be much slower than that. since the team lacks very much pace and urgency in types of players we’re linked with.
that’s why you’ll see me posting around about the need for a winger or 2.
Xhaka’s new contract, Emery saying Ramsey is a key player in his team, and us bringing in Torreira suggests we’re going to play a three man midfield. This suggests Emery will use the 4-3-3 formation he used at PSG, where Mbappe and Neymar played as the “wing-forwards” who moved into the centre behind the main striker while PSG was in possession, while maintaining a position on the wing, in a 4-1-4-1 formation, when the team was defending. Also, the fact that Emery prefers high pressing, suggests that Ozil may not be perfect for his team, and he may prefer Auba/Laca… Read more »
How about a 3-4-3 formation?
Best commentary exchange of the tournament……. Sam Matterface & Lee Dixon (by no way am I biased, much).
Matterface eludes, ‘Mbappe wasn’t even born when France won the world cup in 98, what was you doing in 98′?’
Dixon replies ‘winning a double’
Jesus, what a summer. Getting stuff done & dusted. I really don’t like to ridicule Arsene but, in all honesty, I can’t help feeling that if he’d got his way & carried on, we’d currently be back to reading stories of Dick Law running around behind Jean Seri waving a pen at him & how his dad thinks it’ll happen, unless……
Why are we not looking at Dusan Tadic for our left wing? That lad would do very well playing for a big club!
Xhaka recently signed a new contract. The team will be built around Rambo. Wilshire is out. Torreira could possibly happen. I don’t see Sven letting go of Ozil. Sadly laca might have to give way if push comes to shove but I just don’t see it happening. Remember the reason that Emery got the job over the other favourite candidates was that he impressed the board with his knowledge of the team. I’m sure he told them who needs to go, which positions need to be filled and with which possible players. Let’s see how it goes and stop over… Read more »
“barring no last minute hitches”
what could possibly go wrong???
He didn’t even start for Uruguay. That said, will be only decent signing thus far. BUT no one talking about Granit’s goal for Swiss? Albanian rocket. We have very few players now in this club that excite the imagination. The branding of the club has gone down and the purchasing by Mslintat has not helped. Hopefully Emery can make some sense of it but he can only do so much if he is provided with poorer quality. PEA is the only potentially really exciting player at the moment. That signing was poorly constructed. Iwobi has yet to show true talent… Read more »
Xhaka had a lot of cards in Germany