Uruguayan outlet Ovación Digital today features a good interview with Arsenal owned Lucas Torreira.
The midfielder has just joined Atletico Madrid on a one-year spell, and made his debut for the club in a La Liga clash against Celta Vigo last weekend.
Torreira was really open when talking about this move. He was asked why he chose to sign for the Colchoneros, despite having many other clubs interested in him, and he says there was always a special feeling for that club.
“My wish and my dream has always been to get to Atletico de Madrid. It’s a goal that I have set myself since I arrived in Italy at the age of 17,” Torreira told Ovación.
“And I’m not saying it because I’m here now, but I never dared to say it before because you know that maybe at some point you can’t come to that dream. But today, really, at 24-years-old, I can say it. I’ve achieved this goal, this opportunity and I hope to take advantage of it and enjoy it above all, because this last season at Arsenal, on a personal level, hasn’t been good for me at all.
“I’ve suffered a lot of things, I had a lot of personal problems and more than anything my family also suffered. And with this adventure everyone is very happy. The most important thing is to be able to enjoy myself on the pitch, to be able to help teammates and make the fans happy, because in the end football is just that.”
The midfielder talked about his future beyond this loan spell, claiming he’d be fine staying at Atletico Madrid for longer.
“I know I am a year on loan. I’ve been here for four or five days and it seems like it’s a lot, because I’ve been treated very well. It’s a new opportunity in my life, in which I have fought a lot, because Atletico has always been one of my dreams, one of my goals, and being able to achieve it at the age of 24 is very important. It all depends on how I go during the season, which I hope is very good. And maybe in the future I can stay at the club.”
Torreira also spoke his admiration for Diego Simeone, and brought a few details on how it’s been to work with him since the move earlier earlier this month.
“Being managed by the ‘Cholo’ is something very nice. I believe that all players want to be under the command of a coach who has achieved important things with this club and who throughout his career has earned respect worldwide. His words were very important when coming here to the club and I’m really very happy.
“It was only a few days before the game for me to understand his idea, but he was very clear with me and I understood part of what he told me. There’s still a lot to learn, throughout this season there’ll be a lot of room to correct and hopefully alongside him and my teammates and the entire coaching staff I can learn a lot.”
Despite recent reports saying Lucas Torreira’s contract with Atletico Madrid includes a buying option for the La Liga side, his agent recently dismissed that.
