Director claims Arsenal wanted £15m for player Arteta sold for £5m

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Premier League giants Arsenal initially demanded £15 million from Galatasaray for Lucas Torreira before accepting a cut-price £5.5 million offer, the Turkish club’s deputy chairman Erden Timur tells Haber Turk. 

The phrase ‘better late than never’ comes to mind.

After an excellent campaign on loan at Fiorentina, Torreira would not have anticipated waiting until the final few weeks of the transfer window before being offered an escape from his Emirates Stadium shackles. 

Fiorentina opted to sign Rolando Mandragora instead. Sampdoria couldn’t afford his wages.

But a Galatasaray side looking to claw their way back to the Super Lig summit after a nightmare 2021/22 finally came to Torreira’s rescue last week, agreeing a cut-price fee for a player who set Arsenal back nearly £30 million after catching the eye at the 2018 World Cup. 

Lucas Torreira leaves Arsenal for Galatasaray

“Torreira had offers from very big clubs. We were working on these transfers for 20 to 25 days,” explains Timur, having also fought off competition from Juventus for Napoli legend Dries Mertens.

“We got the players (Torreira and Mertens) through a lot of persuasion. If you don’t do this, you can only persuade them with money. That’s why it takes a long time.

“For Torreira, Arsenal started (demanding) 18 million euros. Sometimes, patience is needed.

“Lucas said he would come two days before he left (Arsenal). One day before, he said to my coach; ‘I’m coming’.”

Torreira eventually joined Galatasaray for a fee of just £5.5 million. The diminutive Uruguay international signs a four-year deal at Istanbul, following Bernd Leno, Matteo Guendouzi and Alexandre Lacazette out the door as Mikel Arteta trims the fat from a bloated Gunners squad. 

“The fans loved his energy and they’ve got a soft spot for him,” former Arsenal goalkeeper David Seaman tells Sky Sports of Torreira. “If it does work out for him (at Galatasaray), then good for him because he’s not played for a while. 

“Whenever you’re a player, you need game time as you need that experience. You need to make the decisions that you have to make in a game regular. But, yeah, good luck to him.”