(Football news) Lucas Torreira is close to joining Galatasaray with Fabrizio Romano reporting on Twitter that the Arsenal midfielder has accepted personal terms with the Turkish side. Torreira’s exit has been on the cards for some time as he has been out on loan for much of Mikel Arteta’s tenure. He has not had a prominent role in the Gunners’ pre-season plan but he shone in the Serie A last season. Fiorentina opted against keeping the Uruguay international. Reports on Thursday claimed that Galatastary were desperate to sign the 26-year-old and fresh talks were set to take place as they struggled to agree the fee with Arsenal for Torreira but yesterday they reached a breakthrough

Now only the finer details of the contract need to be finalised before he flies out to Turkey to get his medical done as Arsenal will receive up to £5.9 million for the former Sampdoria man. It is a shame that Torreira’s time at the North London club simply did not work out, it appeared that he had the makings of a cult-hero when he arrived. His tough-tackling and high energy style meant that he quickly became a fan favourite amongst the Arsenal fans. However, he started to fall out of favour initially under Unai Emery and then the same continued under Mikel Areteta. He had the potential to be an ‘incredible‘ signing for Arsenal and plenty of supporters will now be hoping that he can really get his career going and hopefully make the World Cup squad this year.

With Torreria sold, Arsenal can focus on buying one more midfielder before the transfer window closes. Hence, it is only a matter of time before the Gunners hierarchy step up their interest in landing Tielemans, who has been their number one target for quite some time. The Belgian international reportedly agreed personal terms several months ago, but the Gunners have not yet made a concrete approach for the player. Edu and co were previously reluctant to meet the £30m plus price tag but with less than a month left in the transfer window, Leicester will likely accept a lesser fee from the Gunners, considering that Tielemans’ deal expires in the summer of 2023. The Belgian had an impressive last season as he had 12 goal contributions while winning 2.3 tackles per game. His arrival should provide a different outlook to the Gunners’ midfield this term which really struggled to find some consistency.

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