Jeremy Wilson, who's normally fairly reliable on Arsenal news, claimed just a few days ago that strengthening midfield was a priority but the strategy would be framed by Aaron contract talks (that are supposedly positive). Not sure what that means exactly or how it links with this.
My personal take was that if we were to sell Ramsey we'd be going for a high profile replacement. So I'm going to be positive and assume that signing Torreira is actually a sign that the Ramsey talks are going well enough that we pushed ahead with a lower profile signing. You're welcome Mirth.