Strength of Arsenal new signing

Lucas Torreira was a relative unknown before the World Cup, where he starred for Uruguay as a defensive midfield shield. Left out of the starting lineup for Uruguay’s group games, Torreira got the nod to start the games that counted, notably against Portugal in the quarterfinals where he stifled Cristiano Ronaldo. Regular followers of Serie A know that he’s hardly a new face on the scene, having been a stalwart and consistent performer for Sampdoria, as the Opta statistics below will show.

The tough-tackling midfielder is what many experts believe to be the type of player that Arsenal has been crying out for. Let’s take a closer look at him, just 10 days before his possible Premier League debut against Man City.

Lucas Torreira is a no-nonsense, old-fashioned defensive midfielder. Adep at passing the ball over both long and short distances, he prefers to move laterally rather than physically to snuff out danger, make tackles, win the ball back and then move the ball on to his more creative colleagues. The Uruguayan keeps things simple in the centre of the park, ticking the ball over and dictating the tempo of attacks from a deep position. His low centre of gravity helps him to time sliding tackles perfectly but Torreira isn’t merely a ball-winner; he’s also capable of a fierce long shot and was a regular taker of set pieces for Sampdoria.

Torreira shows all of his agility, balance and skill while close to the ground, but aerially he struggles in duels with opposing midfielders, as he stands only 5’6″ tall. The feisty midfield general contributed only 4 goals in Serie A last season, most of which were from set pieces or from long range. This isn’t necessarily a weakness for a defensive midfielder, but probably an area where he can look to make improvements.

Italian sports director Marcello Donatelli has branded Arsenal new signing Lucas Torreira as the second best midfielder in Europe behind Sergio Busquets.

The Uruguayan joined the Gunners earlier this month for a reported fee of £26.4million, becoming Unai Emery’s fifth signing of the summer. He will add defensive quality to the Arsenal squad which already has Granit Xhaka who has had a disappointing campaign under Arsenal Wenger.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Donatelli said, “His technique, his determination, and his tactical intelligence always impressed me. 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,” he added.

Torreira is yet to link up with the rest of the squad as he was given a three week off after the World Cup tournament in Russia.

Torreira spent the last two seasons at Sampdoria, making 71 appearances and scoring four goals and quickly became a fan favorite.

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after coming to England,  Arsenal head coach Unai Emery has hailed the ‘great quality’ of Lucas Torreira after the midfielder completed a move from Sampdoria. Torreira, 22, becomes Emery’s fourth signing in charge of the Gunners after Stephan Lichtsteiner, Bernd Leno and Sokratis Papastathopoulos all joined the club in recent weeks.

It’s understood Arsenal agreed a fee of around £26.4million for Torreira and the Uruguay international will wear the No. 11 shirt at the Emirates next season. The midfielder impressed at the summer’s World Cup before Uruguay’s elimination and Emery is confident that he has signed a young player with experience.

Asked about Arsenal’s latest signing, Emery told the club’s official 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.’

After the Pescara loan expired, the player returned to Sampdoria on 1 July 2016. On 21 August 2016, Torreira made his Serie A debut in their opening game against Empoli at the Stadio Carlo Castellani.  He started the game and played the entirety of the 90+ minutes on the field.

He became a regular for Sampdoria in the 2016–17 season, and continued showing his importance to the team in the 2017–18 season; scoring vital goals, including the second goal in Sampdoria’s 3–2 win over Juventus in November.

After a summer of speculation, Torreira joined English club Arsenal on 10 July 2018 for an undisclosed fee, believed to be around £26.4m. Upon the completion of the signing, head coach Unai Emery said “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.” Torreira was given the number 11 shirt, previously worn by Mesut Özil, who took the vacant number 10, following the departure of Jack Wilshere

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