Lucas Torreira, excluded from Arsenal, completes move to Fiorentina on loan with option to buy

Arsenal midfielder Lucas Torreira has joined Fiorentina on a loan deal with an option to buy the Uruguayan midfielder at the end of the season.

The 25-year-old has not played for the Gunners since the 2019-20 campaign ended after spending last season on loan at LaLiga champions Atletico Madrid.

Torreira has been training individually at Arsenal’s London Colney training ground since returning to London last week after being told by Mikel Arteta that he has no role in the Gunners’ first team this season.

Torreira (left) hasn’t played for Arsenal since 2020 after falling out with Mikel Arteta (right)

The midfielder will make his return to Italian football after his performances for Sampdoria first saw him transfer to Arsenal after the 2018 World Cup.

Torreira joined the Gunners that summer for a fee of around £ 26million and immediately rose to popularity among the Emirates faithful with excellent performances against Tottenham and Liverpool at the club’s home ground.

However, the Uruguay international found playing time limited after Unai Emery was sacked in the middle of the 2019-20 campaign.

Torreira completed a loan at Atletico Madrid last season following Arteta’s refusal to include him in the squad.

The Uruguayan international spent last season on loan at Atletico Madrid where he won La Liga

The midfielder made 26 appearances during his stint at Wanda Metropolitano, winning La Liga with Diego Simeone, but was given a long period of compassionate leave after his mother passed away in the middle of last season.

Torreira insisted after his mother’s death that he no longer wanted to play in Europe, but will now spend at least another year on the continent in Serie A.

Arsenal, meanwhile, let another midfielder go after Joe Willock’s £ 25million departure for Newcastle United, where he impressed on loan last season.

Torreira (right) returns to Italian football after his pre-Arsenal years with Sampdoria

Matteo Guendouzi also found a loan at Marseille while Dani Ceballos returned to parent club Real Madrid after two years in north London.

Arteta has strengthened in this area this summer with the signings of Albert Sambi Lokonga and Martin Odegaard, while Granit Xhaka has remained at the club despite a willingness to move him to Rome earlier this season.

However, the Gunners will lose Thomas Partey and Mohamed Elneny in the Africa Cup of Nations this winter while Ainsley Maitland-Niles is in disgrace under Arteta.