Arsenal are set to hold talks with the representatives of Facundo Torres over a January transfer, according to various reports.
Uruguayan journalist Edgardo Buggiano broke the story last Thursday that representatives of Facundo Torres will travel to London this Friday – November 4th – to negotiate a possible move for the Orlando City winger to Arsenal.
Buggiano also highlighted that if the transfer happens, Torres’ former club Penarol are owed 30% of the excess above $8m (£6.92m), if applicable.
Florida-based reporter Klaus German then reported that Torres is close to an Arsenal move, as he looks for a new club in Europe.
Following up on the story in the English media on Monday, Simon Collings reported for the Evening Standard that Arsenal are indeed tracking Torres, with Arsenal scout Toni Lima partly behind their interest.
Collings reports that Arsenal are set to hold talks with Torres’ agent, though he claims the move is still at an early stage and it remains to be seen whether they press ahead with a deal in January.
If the name Facundo Torres rings a bell, that might be because he scored for Orlando City against Arsenal in pre-season. The Gunners ended up winning 3-1, but Torres certainly had his side’s best moment of the match, cutting inside to finish from outside the box.
Looking at his statistics since then, it could be argued that Torres’ goal against Arsenal drove him to reach a new level in Orlando.
Before that game, Torres had played 24 games for Orlando City in 2022, scoring five goals and assisting four.
Since that game, Torres has played another 16 matches, scoring eight and assisting six. So his goal contributions per game have jumped from 0.375 to 0.875.
It’s also possible Torres has simply started to find his feet with his new club, given he only joined them for £7.75m in January. But it certainly seems like he’s taken inspiration from the Arsenal clash.
Torres’ most notable goal contributions in those last 16 games were in the US Open Cup.
With a goal and an assist against New York Red Bulls in the semi-final, and two goals and an assist against Sacramento FC in the final, it’s hard to argue against Torres’ impact in Orlando City eventually lifting the trophy.
Arsenal have evidently been watching his progress, and they may well be preparing a January bid.
In the meantime, Torres will be keeping his fingers crossed for a Uruguay call-up for the World Cup.
The winger was in the Uruguay squad regularly in 2021, and he initially made their qualification squads in 2022 as well. But he dropped out over the June and September breaks, so he can only hope his recent form has earned him a return to the 26.