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Lucas Torreira has been branded the second strongest midfielder in Europe by his former coach Marcello Donatelli – behind only Barcelona’s Sergio Busquets. The 22-year-old joined Arsenal for £26.4million earlier this month with Unai Emery looking to revitalise a squad which has failed to make the Champions League for the last two seasons.
After helping Uruguay to a 2-1 win over European champions Portugal, Torreira and Co exited the tournament in the quarter-finals against subsequent tournament winners, France. He completed a £26.4million move to the North London club from Sampdoria earlier this month, making him Unai Emery’s fourth summer signing.
Torreira spent two years at the Serie A club making 71 appearances and scoring four goals and becoming a fan favourite in the process. They have been in need of a quality defensive midfielder, with the likes of Granit Xhaka disappointing in Arsene Wenger’s final two seasons.
Torreira spent the last two seasons at Sampdoria, making 71 appearances and scoring four goals and quickly became a fan favourite.
‘His technique, his determination and his tactical intelligence always impressed me,’ Donatelli told Sky Sports. ‘He has always been strong in understanding those defensive tactical aspects and he is very mature tactically in terms of how he reads the game. He can cope with the gaps that emerge in midfield with great intelligence and he covers very well. He is the one who corrects the spaces and cuts out the passes between the lines in the defensive phase. After Sergio Busquets, he is tactically the strongest midfielder in Europe.’
Torreira’s new boss Emery elected to give every player involved at the World Cup three weeks off before joining on their pre-season tour. The 22-year-old has been enjoying his break in the Caribbean after playing in all five of Uruguay’s games in Russia. After helping Uruguay to a 2-1 win over European champions Portugal, Torreira and Co exited the tournament in the quarter-finals against eventual winners France.
New boss Emery elected to give every player involved at the World Cup three weeks off, which has allowed Torreira to recover from his World Cup exertions.
Emery told the club’s 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.’
The Spanish manager has been busy in the transfer window already, signing Borussia Dortmund defender Sokratis Papastathopoulos. He has also bagged free agent right-back Stefan Lichtsteiner and Bayer Leverkusen goalkeeper Bernd Leno. Now Arsenal’s fourth summer signing, he joins Stephan Lichtsteiner, Bernd Leno, Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Matteo Guendouzi who are also new arrivals at the Emirates.
ARSENAL’S PRE-SEASON FIXTURES
August 1 – Chelsea (Dublin)
August 4 – Lazio (Stockholm)