Reports: Florian Grillitsch could be Torreira’s replacement

With Lucas Torreira’s future in Florence looking more uncertain by the day, Fiorentina needs a replacement regista if they are to improve on last season’s 7th place finish. While Sofyan Amrabat showed positive flashes towards the end of the season, relying on the Moroccan as a starter for the entire campaign is extremely risky.

That’s why today’s reports of Fiorentina’s negotiations for Hoffenheim’s Florian Grillitsch are welcome news. The story was broken by TuttoMercatoWeb’s Gianluca Longari, and has been confirmed by reporters such as Gianluca Di Marzio and Fabrizio Romano.

While Longari said that Fiorentina was just opening contacts with the 26-year-old, Di Marzio said that the contacts are in an advanced stage, and could be wrapped up by Friday. His arrival depends on whether Arsenal lowers their requests for Torreira. Supposedly, issues with the player have been mostly ironed out at this point. However, Fiorentina is only offering roughly half of the €15 million buy option to Arsenal currently.

Putting aside the emotional attachment of Torreira and Fiorentina, Grillitsch is an intriguing purchase. He made his name at Werder Bremen, and moved to Hoffenheim in 2017. Since then, he’s played in 16 European matches and 126 Bundesliga games, tallying 7 goals and 11 assists. He’s out of contract this summer, so his signing could save money for other important signings. In addition, he’s more of a classic regista than Torreira, with his key strength being his passing. He’s played as the central center-back in a 5 for Hoffenheim as well, so there could be a possibility that he fills in at the back if necessary. While I would still prefer Torreira, a Grillitsch and Amrabat rotation would not be the worst-case scenario for the midfield.