Lucas Torreira is virtually an Atletico Madrid player after his agent met with the club this week, but the nature of the move is still unclear.

TMW report that Lucas Torreira is virtually a new Atletico Madrid player. All parties are now just finalising the details for the increasingly probably move, following the meeting between Atletico and Torreira’s agent on Wednesday.

Matteo Moretto reported earlier this week that the agent was in Madrid to try and close an agreement with Atletico. Di Marzio staffer Francesco Porzio also confirmed the same news.

Fabrizio Romano claims Arsenal are ‘working to sell’ Torreira to Atletico. They held a meeting through an intermediary on Wednesday as the Gunners pushed for a permanent transfer.

However, The Athletic report that Torreira is close to a loan move with an option to buy.

As we’ve heard before, Atletico much prefer a loan move for the midfielder. That’s what they’ve been offering up to this point, but Arsenal were hoping for a permanent sale.

The likes of AS Roma and Torino were in the race as well, which gave Arsenal something to work with in negotiations.

If Atletico were the only club in the race, the fear would be that they just want to string the Gunners along to avoid them buying Thomas Partey.

As long as Arsenal can be fairly sure Torreira is going somewhere this summer, it’s out of Atletico’s hands whether Mikel Arteta pushes a move for Partey before Monday’s deadline. But without the funds from a permanent sale, it’s certainly in the balance.