Arsenal signed Lucas Torreira from Sampdoria this summer for a transfer fee that was reported to be in the region of £26m. The 22-year-old was an underrated gem in Serie A and the Gunners pounced on the chance to sign him and started dealing with his agent at the end of the last season.
This was before the 2018 World Cup in Russia where the midfielder was set to represent Uruguay. How good was he before th?
In the last two league seasons, he led Serie A in most tackles, most minutes played by a midfielder, and made the most interceptions and recoveries by a midfielder!
It is safe to say that Arsenal had uncovered a gem and his stock only grew when he put in a superb shift in midfield for Uruguay at the World Cup. The South American nation reached the knockout stages without conceding a single goal and the defensive midfielder played a huge part in coach Oscar Tabarez’s setup.
All this while, fans commended Arsenal’s scouting team for unearthing such a promising talent in a team that finished 10th in Italy last season.
Torreira soon had other suitors too after his World Cup campaign but it was Arsenal that won him over because of their interest in the midfielder prior to the tournament.
Even his father had said: “I want the best for my son and I also know that Arsenal showed a lot of interest in him. There was no problem in the negotiations.”
Sure enough, soon after Uruguay’s World Cup campaign came to a premature end at the hands of France, Torreira became an Arsenal player. Fans had even tracked his flight as he neared a move to the North London club.
And his agent has now come out and credited his international teammate Luis Suarez who convinced him to move to Arsenal. The agent represents many Uruguayan players with Torreira being one of his key players.
Uruguayan journalist Sebas Giovanelli has claimed that the player’s agent said on Sport890 that the Barcelona forward had only good things to say about the club and the Premier League.
It is understood that Suarez’s recommendation that he move to the Premier League side was vital in the club securing his signature.
A former Liverpool striker himself, Suarez was once an Arsenal target and the Gunners had tried to prise him away from Anfield with that infamous £40,000,001 bid that did not sit well and strained relations between the clubs.
Suarez was desperate for a move but remained at Anfield and soon sealed a move to Barcelona instead – a move that paid off for him and his family.
As for Torreira, he played his first pre-season game for the Gunners when they played Lazio and looks set to be a crucial member of Unai Emery’s side this season.
Upon signing for Arsenal in 2018, The Independent’s Jack Austin stated “Torreira is exactly the kind of no-nonsense midfielder the club have been craving”, adding that in Uruguay colours during the 2018 World Cup “he went about his job as the deep-lying pivot in the middle of the park with none of the fuss and all of the discipline of a player who has built a tidy reputation for himself in Serie A”, while assessing his chief weaknesses as a lack of height in aerial duels and little goal threat.