Former Fiorentina hero Borja Valero cannot ‘understand’ why the Serie A club walked away from a deal to sign Lucas Torreira from Premier League giants Arsenal in the summer transfer window, speaking to Sporx.
‘Everyone wants a player like him’, Valero says. Well, everyone but Fiorentina, it seems.
La Viola president Rocco Commisso remains insisted that the right decision was made when Fiorentina decided not to trigger the £13 million option-to-buy clause in Torreira’s Stadio Artemio Franchi contract. Thus, leading the Uruguay international to join Galatasaray’s extensive array of former Premier League misfits instead.
“Torreira? He is a player that almost every team in Serie A needs. Everyone wants a player like him,” argues Valero, a Coppa Italia finalist with Fiorentina in 2014.
“Lucas is able to do a lot of things on the pitch. A deal (to sign him permanently) had to be found. If not, a transfer had to be made to replace him. It is wrong to leave it unsolved in this way. He did important work for the club and I think it would be good for him to come back.”
Arsenal sold Lucas Torreira to Galatasaray for just £5 million
Fiorentina finished an impressive seventh in Serie A last term; Torreira playing some of his most consistent football since those heady days at Sampdoria. Since his departure, Vincenzo Italiano’s side have won just two out of eight games.
Antonin Barak, a summer arrival from Hellas Verona, is yet to exert the same influence in the middle of the park.
“Personally, I think it is not easy to replace him. Torreira’s departure is a difficult story to understand,” Valero adds. “Torreira was needed. Not Barak.”
After moves to Fiorentina and then former employers Sampdoria broke down, Torreira joined the likes of Dries Mertens and Juan Mata at Galatasaray. Arsenal even accepted a knock-down fee of just £5 million, such was their determination to get the one-time Atletico Madrid loanee off the wage bill
“We got (Torreira) through a lot of persuasion,” explains Gala chief Erden Timur. “For Torreira, Arsenal started (demanding) 18 million euros. Torreira had offers from very big clubs. We were working on this transfer for 20 to 25 days.”
Galatasaray are currently fourth in the Turkish Super Lig table. Torreira has featured in all but one of their fixtures thus far.
“I retained (Sofyan) Amrabat and now everyone speaks well of him,” explains Commisso. “If Torreira had stayed, perhaps Amrabat would not have the value of today.
“He went to Turkey for 5 million. Had I listened to you, I would have had to spend 15 million euros plus commissions. I don’t miss Torreira. Today, Amrabat has a higher value than he would have if he didn’t play.”
No regrets here. Much to Valero’s confusion.
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