Lucas Torreira issues sarcastic response to Arsenal giving Gabriel Martinelli his shirt number

There's a new number 11 in town

Forgotten Arsenal man Lucas Torreira issued a sarcastic response on the Gunners' Instagram page after the London club confirmed that Gabriel Martinelli would wear the number 11 shirt from next season. Torreira is currently on loan at Fiorentina in Serie A and doesn't appear to be in manager Mikel Arteta's plans moving forward, leaving doubts about his long-term future.

'What number will I wear next season?'

With Arsenal keen to show their faith in the future talent they have in their ranks, one way to seemingly do that is to give them a lower squad number. That's meant to show that they are in the manager's plans, according to the world of football, anyway. Upon releasing the new home shirt, which they will wear for their final game of the season against Everton on Sunday, the Gunners used the opportunity to reveal that Martinelli had changed his shirt number from 35 to 11. https://www.instagram.com/p/CdvIwyFKdJ3/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link However, Torreira clearly didn't receive the memo in the post that he would no longer have his usual shirt number upon his return to north London and wanted answers. The Urugyan commented: "What number will I wear next year?” Despite his confusion, and maybe sadness (do players get upset at swapping shirt numbers?), the 26-year-old did congratulate his teammate. He said: "Good luck amigo @gabriel.martinelli I love you."

The Uruguay international has fallen down the pecking order

Torreira joined Arsenal in 2018 in the first campaign after Arsene Wenger's departure and initially established himself as a regular name on the team-sheet. The departure of Unai Emery though saw his playing time scaled back and he is now one of many that Arteta is seemingly looking to get rid of for good and move onto pastures new. Related links:

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