Arsenal midfielder Lucas Torreira has his heart set on a summer move to Boca Juniors with a number of Brazilian clubs also making their interest known, the Uruguayan’s father tells Radio Continental, via TYC Sports.
Following the tragic passing of his mother, the 25-year-old is desperate to return to his South American home at the earliest possible opportunity.
Torreira confirmed in conversation with ESPN Argentina last week that he will attempt to bring an end to his spell in Europe, with Boca Juniors his dream destination.
The former Sampdoria ace, who joined Arsenal in a £26 million deal following the 2018 World Cup, has fallen behind Thomas Partey, Granit Xhaka and Mo Elneny in Mikel Arteta’s pecking order, joining Atletico Madrid on loan last summer.
And, if Boca are willing to stump up the cash required to sign a man who has just one year left on his contract, Arsenal are unlikely to stand in Torreira’s way.
“Lucas has been a Boca fan since he was a boy,” Ricardo Torreira explains. “Obviously, it is the first option for him, but I have already received other calls from Brazilian teams in case Boca does not happen.
“Lucas is suffering a lot to be alone there in Europe, we are seeing how we can accompany him this month and a half until the end of the season. When you lose a person as happened to us so dear, you realise that life passes you by. If Lucas wants to come to Boca, let him come.’
“We want to resolve his departure with Arsenal first and then sit down with Boca. It is obvious that Boca will have to pay a transfer fee, Arsenal will want something in return.”
There is, of course, a chance that Arsenal could terminate the final 12 months of Torreira’s contract.
Mesut Ozil, Sokratias Papastathopoulos, Shkodran Mustafi and Henrikh Mkhitaryan have all been allowed to leave the Emirates for free in recent times.
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