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Arsenal Midfielder Confirms Talks With Jose Mourinho

Arsenal Midfielder Confirms Talks With Jose Mourinho

Arsenal midfielder Lucas Torreira has confirmed that he's spoken to Jose Mourinho about a transfer to AS Roma, but it's not an easy move.

Dan Critchlow

Dan Critchlow

Lucas Torreira has confirmed that he's held talks with Jose Mourinho over a possible transfer to AS Roma.

Arsenal midfielder Lucas Torreira is in limbo at the moment, set to return to his parent club after a loan to Fiorentina but with no desire to stick around.

The player's agent told the media this week that he wants to play in Italy, but Arsenal have called him back for pre-season.

One Italian club with an apparent interest in Torreira is AS Roma, with Torreira speaking to Uruguayan channel Punto Penal about the prospect.

"The Roma thing is a possibility," Torreira said. "I spoke a while ago with Mourinho.

"He is a coach I admire. It is an option that seduces me a lot but it is not easy."

Torreira spent this season on loan with Fiorentina, and it was a successful spell overall.

The 26-year-old won multiple Player of the Month awards and helped the Serie A side into European football for the first time in years.

Yet Fiorentina opted not to activate their €15m option to buy Torreira at the end of the season.

The Florence-based club seemingly hoped to negotiate the price down, as well as renegotiating Torreira's wages.

That didn't go down well with Torreira or Arsenal, and any remaining chances of a move promptly disappeared.

After Torreira found such success in Italy with Sampdoria and Fiorentina, it should easily be possible to generate transfer interest in him.

The problem is finding a club willing to pay Arsenal's demands, which remain at a minimum of €10m.

Torreira is insistent he'll be leaving Arsenal, responding emphatically to questions from the Uruguayan media about the chances he stays in London.

"Chances? None," Torreira insisted. "From the beginning, they (Arsenal) told me that I didn’t have a place.

"I don’t want to stay either because I suffered a lot, it cost me a lot to adapt and my idea is to go to Italy or Spain."

Now Torreira and Arsenal just need to find a club willing to pay up. AS Roma are one possible option.

Featured Image Credit: Alamy Images

Topics: Lucas Torreira, Fiorentina

Dan is an Arsenal writer and contributor to SPORTbible, focusing on transfer news, team news and the youth teams.

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