He joined the Gunners in the summer
Arsenal completed the signing of midfielder Lucas Torreira from Sampdoria on a 5 year deal for a reported fee of £22 million. He was given the number 11 shirt and joined up with the squad on 30th July after post World Cup holidays.
Unai Emery targeted a defensive midfielder ahead of the next season. The lack of a natural screening presence behind Granit Xhaka or Aaron Ramsey has often seemed to unbalance the team in recent seasons.
Gunners prioritized the signing Uruguay International and were in talks with the Italian club for him since before the World Cup in Russia started.
They in fact agreed the fee for him with the Serie A club prior the World Cup, and the deal would have been completed sooner had it not been for the midfielder’s determination to focus solely on the tournament.
The 22 year old impressed for Uruguay during the World Cup and featured in all of their 5 matches. But his campaign came to an end as they were defeated 2-0 by France in the quarter-finals.
The Uruguayan came on as a substitute in the first 5 Premier League fixtures of this season but has played all the 90 minutes in the previous 2 matches. After impressing from coming off the bench, he has since worked his way into the starting XI.
Club’s legend Robert Pires is impressed with Torreira’s start at Arsenal and understands why they spend big to land him.
“I love Lucas Torreira,” Pires said as quoted by Sky Sports. “When you play in his position you need to be a warrior, and he’s a warrior.
“He likes to fight a good fight with the other players and technically he’s very good. He has good ability with the ball, good vision and now I understand why Arsenal paid a lot of money for him.
“He’s a very good player.”
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