Last week Italian giants AC Milan made a reported proposal to Arsenal that was basically to swap their Frank Kessie for our very own Lucas Torreira.
Arsenal have apparently given the offer some thought and decided that they are not interested and have, in fact, made it clear that Torreira will not be leaving the Emirates this summer.
Torreira himself got tongues wagging following comments he made about struggling to adapt to living in England, the weather and that he was happier in Italy and that lead to some feverish speculation.
It was also a case of putting two and two together and coming up with five because the assumption was that having played under Milan’s new coach previously at Sampdoria that the little Uruguayan would relish the opportunity to be reunited with his former coach.
You have to think that someone from the club has spoken with Torreira and that he would have indicated to them that he is happy in North London and has no intention of leaving, otherwise he would not have been removed from the market.
Kessie is a decent player for sure and he may well have been better for us than Torreira but who knows and that is where the huge risk lies, we know what we are getting with Torreira, we don’t with Kessie, there was no guarantee he would have adapted to the English game.
It was clear that Torreira weakened at the end of the season but that was fatigue and in all fairness to the 23-year-old, he has never played as many games in one season before and certainly not in a league as intense as the Premier League.
I am confident that Torreira will be a lot more consistent next season and Arsenal have probably made the right decision here.