Official- Lucas Torreira joins Arsenal from Sampdoria

The midfielder will wear the number 11 jersey

Arsenal have completed the signing of midfielder Lucas Torreira from Sampdoria in a deal believed to be worth £22 million. He will wear the number 11 shirt, has been at the club for a medical and will now have a post-World Cup break and join up with the squad in early August.

A statement released by the Italian club declared: “UC Sampdoria announces that it has relinquished the rights to the sports performances of the player Lucas Sebastián Torreira to Arsenal FC.

“The Uruguayan midfielder – 74 appearances and 4 goals in his experience as a blucerchiato – is sincerely thanked for the commitment shown in these two seasons and wished the greatest of luck for the rest of his career by President Massimo Ferrero and all the company.”

Unai Emery targeted a defensive midfielder ahead of the next season. Santi Cazorla and Jack Wilshere were released by the club after their contracts expired leaving them short in that area.

The lack of a natural screening presence behind Granit Xhaka or Aaron Ramsey has often seemed to unbalance the team in recent seasons. The club prioritized the signing of Torreira and have been in talks with the club for him since before the World Cup in Russia started.

The Uruguayan joined the Italian side from Pescara in 2015 but remained with them on loan for the rest of the season. He returned in the upcoming season and established himself as a regular for them.

He continued to show his importance in the 2017/2018 campaign and became a key player at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris. He managed to score 4 goals and provided 1 assist in 38 appearances in all competitions.

The 22 year old has been impressive for Uruguay in the World Cup and has 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.

Emery told Official Arsenal Website : “In Lucas Torreira, we have signed a young player who is a very bright talent in the game. A midfielder with great quality, I have enjoyed watching his performances for Sampdoria in the past two seasons, and we all saw him do very well for Uruguay in the World Cup. He is a young player already with good experience, but who wants to keep on growing. We welcome Lucas to Arsenal and look forward to him joining us soon for pre-season.”

He is Gunner’s latest recruit following the arrivals of Stephan Lichtsteiner, Bernd Leno and Sokratis Papastathopoulos.