Lucas Torreira's future has been a big source of concern for Arsenal supporters, with the midfielder reportedly considering a January exit.
The Uruguayan international was a mainstay of the Gunners first team in his first season following a £27million move from Sampdoria in 2018, but this term the 23-year-old has been behind Granit Xhaka, Matteo Guendouzi and Dani Ceballos in the pecking order for the majority of games.
Torreira has been repeatedly linked with a return to Italy, with AC Milan among a number of clubs in Italy and Spain said to be interested in his signature.
And Torreira's agent Pablo Bentancur recently confirmed that there were a host of clubs tracking him.
"I must say that the change of role has penalised him sharply," Bentacur told Calciomercato .
"He is no longer at ease and we hope that things can change.
"Clearly the interest for Torreira are all right, especially by Spanish clubs, but I have never sat down with any club to talk about his transfer.
"This is because of the great respect we have for the Gunners and general manager Raul Sanllehi."
Speaking ahead of the 2-2 draw with Southampton, Arsenal boss Unai Emery discussed Torreira's position in the side, with the Spaniard playing him in a more advanced role at times this season, despite many people feeling that he is better suited to a deeper role in the midfield.
"But what is a defensive midfielder? We need that position for the capacity to build up, it's a big responsibility," Emery said in response.
"He can play as a defensive midfielder but we need a defensive midfielder [to be] offensive because the build up for us is very important. At the moment he is in that process.
"He can learn and improve but needs time, and at the moment to give him that responsibility as a defensive midfielder but building up and creating a lot of combinations with our team, he needs more time."
Meanwhile, Torreira took time out to visit his old team in Italy on Sunday, with Sampdoria posting a picture of the midfielder in the stands at their game against Udinese in Serie A, which the hosts won 2-1 thanks to goals from former Southampton duo Manolo Gabbiadini and Gaston Ramirez.
The tweet was captioned: 'It's always a pleasure to see you again,' which led to many Arsenal supporters to respond.
