For employers there are good leavers and bad leavers – and the latter are generally bad for employer and employee.
Such is the case with Lucas Torriera and Willan – both set to leave the club with disgruntled messages on social media which doesn’t augur well in terms of man-management. Didn’t happen too much under Wenger. Arteta appears more definite – you are in or out – no messing.
Torriera’s Arsenal career got off to a flier in the 2018-19 season and it looked like he was the midfield terrier the club had been missing since the days of Vieira. He got his own five foot song and was man-of-the-match against Liverpool and Tottenham, scoring an iconic fourth goal in the 4-2 win.
But he began to feel homesick which affected performances, leading to him playing less and less the next season. Maybe he was a victim of the seemingly continual management changes – Emery, Mislintat, Gazidis, Sanllehí, Edu, Ljungberg, and Arteta.
He was loaned to Atletico last season and played 26 times.
But he told the Metro: “A year ago I had been working with a psychologist in Spain because when in the second year at Arsenal, I played very little.
“It was hard for me to really assimilate it because my life depends on football and when I don’t play I have a very bad time, I am in a very bad mood and many things happen. That’s why I started with him and he was giving me a hand with that topic.
“Out there many years ago they told you ‘but how are you going to go to a psychologist, are you crazy?’ And today it is very important, especially for us who live a lot of situations being away from the family.”
Torreira’s mother passed away last year after contracting Covid-19. “And when my mother’s thing happened, I wanted to stop playing soccer, I wanted to stay in Fray Bentos with my family,” he said. “I had very little desire to go back to Spain because I had to stay alone there.
“Luckily one of my brothers left with me.”
So he can be forgiven for posting at a Madrid theme park during the Brentford game: “Enjoying the Parque Warner with family and friends !!! Thank you very much for the great attention.”
He was having time off after the Copa America.
So, the move to Fiorentina for a £1m loan fee for the 2021-22 campaign, covering all his wages (£75,000/week) with an option to buy of £12.8m is good for all parties.
ANR wishes him well.
Willian
At the weekend, Willian posted a quote, attributed to Denzel Washington, which read: “You will never be critcised by someone who is doing more than you.”
Subsequently Willian’s father Severino da Silva has revealed that a ‘disagreement’ with Mikel Arteta has shaped the Brazilian winger’s desire to leave the club this month.
He told SBT Sports that Willian was initially excited by the prospect of playing for Arsenal, but things quickly went south in the weeks after he informed the Spaniard of his desire to leave.
“Arteta at the beginning said that he wanted him, that he had a project, but the project wasn’t confirmed,” said da Silva.
“When he played, he played well. But since there was a disagreement, the coach knows he doesn’t want to stay, so he won’t put him on.”
On Sunday he liked a post on Chelsea’s official Instagram after the 2-0 defeat.
Again, the move to Corinthians, cancelling two years on his £190,000/ week contract looks a good move for all parties, shame it worked out that way and maybe the exit could have been handled better.