COMMENT: Lucas Torreira. The good news for Arsenal fans is... he doesn't want to leave. Even better, nor does his manager. Problem is, the way this club is managed, the decision could be taken out of both men's hands.
No matter how it was parsed. Sliced. Nowhere in that long, honest and insightful interview Torreira gave to Ovacion did the midfielder openly declare he wanted out. Indeed, it was the opposite. Torreira, as much as he admitted to struggling with the London weather and the crowded streets, insisted he saw his future - and we're talking "years" - in an Arsenal shirt.
Admitting he found the dark winter days in London a problem. And to be fair, anyone from the southern hemisphere can relate. Torreira made it clear on Uruguayan national radio where he saw his future.
"You go out in the morning and it is cloudy, you come home in the afternoon and it is cloudy," stated Torreira. "The sun is a bit strange in these parts, we are not from here and we are used to always, or almost always, the sun. Over the years I will adapt."
And as far as the past season, the midfielder looked back on it proudly.
"We all know England and the Premier," he also said in the same interview, "I made a very important leap in terms of football because at Arsenal we played four competitions while in Sampdoria I was used to playing only two: Serie A and Coppa Italia.
"All in all, for me the balance was positive and I am satisfied, satisfied with what I did this season."
So football-wise. Career-wise. He's "satisfied" with his first 12 months in England. Away from the pitch, it's been more difficult. But significantly, he plans to "adapt" with the aim of settling over the "years" to come. Not exactly the unhappy, unsettled player portrayed in the transfer gossip sections of the press this past week.
For his manager, Unai Emery, the feeling's the same. He's poured 12 months of tactical work into the Uruguayan. And he's established a good relationship with the 23 year-old. The pair often testing eachother's English language skills light-heartedly when conversing. The idea that Emery would be willingly pushing Torreira out the exit door is ridiculous.
Yet, AC Milando see an opening. And most significantly the man running the management firm now in charge of the Rossonero has caught wind of Torreira's availability.
In Italy, they're convinced Arsenal are prepared to sell. A decision encouraged by the Arsenal-supporting Gordon Singer, whose Elliott Management now run Milan. Singer, of course, is also close to Arsenal's owner Stan Kroenke. And he can see an opportunity.
Indeed, where Elliott have pulled back this month from talks with Sassuolo for Stefano Sensi and Fiorentina for Jordan Veretout due to valuations, Singer has had no problem giving his new front office team of Paolo Maldini and Zvonimir Boban the remit to go and buy Torreira - even at Arsenal's price of £40m. A figure far in excess of the price-tags carried by Sensi and Veretout, but clearly for Singer a bargain there for the taking.
Inside Arsenal, a debate has raged. With just £40m available to spend this summer - a figure still to be explained by the club's front office. What do they do? Sit tight and work on the cheap? Or sacrifice a wanted player to go for Emery's preferred targets? A step back - at least in theory - for two strides forward. But, again, a situation not of Emery's doing. Nor of those in charge of the day-to-day operations, Raul Sanllehi and Vinai Venkatesham. Arsenal fans know where the blame lies. And as bad as the prospect of losing Torreira is, they should be infuriated that such a talent could be lost to Elliott's Milan.
Elliott and Singer are running Milan as caretakers. Almost administrators. After taking over the reins from Yonghong Li, their sole drive is to make the club attractive to a buyer. And they want to do it inside the next two years.
In other words, the idea of long-term planning. Long-term investment. It just isn't their brief. It should be Arsenal's. It should be Kroenke's. Yet, it is Arsenal who are prepared to sell a wonderful, young player. Below market-rate. And to a club whose owners are there to make a quick sale without financial loss.
For Arsenal, this shouldn't be happening. They're the club with the TV money. Indeed, they're the ones who have just cleared almost £21 MILLION from their annual wage bill since the end of the season. Yet somehow, they're the paupers in this relationship.
The player doesn't want to go. Nor does his manager. If Arsenal do lose Lucas Torreira this summer, fans won't need to look far for who's responsible.
