An Arsenal player pictured at the airport wearing the new club’s scarf
Saturday, Galatasaray have confirmed they have ‘started’ negotiations with Lucas Torreira and Arsenal over the player’s transfer.
The reality is that the deal is close to being done but the Super Lig club are clearly playing it safe with their announcements.
Torreira was filmed arriving at the airport ahead of his transfer wearing a Galatasaray scarf, so there’s no doubt about the move now.
Istanbul: Dries Mertens and Lucas Torreira arrive at the airport and will be revealed as new Galatasaray players. 🟡🔴 #galatasaray@be in sports 🎥pic.twitter.com/TrX2MPpl5w
— Fabrice Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 7, 2022
Arsenal will obviously wait for all the paperwork to be completed and the medical to be done before confirming anything, and for now they remain completely silent on the matter.
Fabrizio Romano reported this week that Arsenal are set to receive €6-7m (£5-5.9m) from Galatasaray plus add-ons. This roughly matches other reports that the deal was worth £5m plus £2.5m in add-ons.
Torreira still had a year left on his contract with Arsenal, and although he was recalled for pre-season with the Gunners, he left the US tour early to go to Italy and hadn’t played a game since.
When he left the tour, a return to Serie A seemed like the most likely option, despite Fiorentina’s failure to activate their buyout clause to bring him back after his loan spell.
But none of the other Italian clubs with a reported interest have ever submitted a satisfactory offer. Galatasaray did, and now they seem to have landed their man.
