Arsenal are close to securing their third signing of the season as Lucas Torreira is set to make a switch to England from Sampdoria in a £26m move. The Uruguayan international certainly didn’t harm his reputation after an impressive display in the World Cup for his side. Uruguay meanwhile bowed out of the tournament in the quarterfinals and that could mean Arsenal can have their man a bit sooner.
The move is said to be almost done and the player is just required to put pen to paper and turn up for a medical at the club. Arsenal are looking for a new beginning under Unai Emery as their veteran manager Arsene Wenger stepped down from the top job after more than two decades of service.
The Spanish manager has already made some inroads in the transfer market as they have wrapped up the signing of Bernd Leno from Bayer Leverkusen and Sokratis Papastathopoulos from Borussia Dortmund.
Sorting out the leaky defence will be one of Arsenal’s major concerns as they let in 51 goals last season. Torreira is going to help in bringing that number down as he will be expected to start just in front of his defence and act as a protective cover.
The 22-year-old might not be physically intimidating but he does create a whole lot of nuisance for the opposition. He is tenacious and perseverant in his challenges. He reads the game well and blocks out opposition attacks before they can develop further. Arsenal have been lacking that nitty-gritty player in midfield since Francis Coquelin departed from the club. Bringing in Torrerira will certainly solve some of their defensive woes.
This will also mean that Granit Xhaka will be slightly relieved of his defensive duties and he will be allowed to express himself further up the pitch. The Swiss international struggled to cope in the no. 6 role last season as he often made some bad decisions and went into some rash challenges.
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The Gunners have often been blamed that they lack determination and steely grit to see through games. A player like Torreira is definitely going to bring a bit more of grit and character to the side. It will be interesting to see how the player will adapt to the physicality and tempo of the Premier League but from the pieces of evidence that the 22-year-old old has provided so far, indicates that he is going to be a hit at the Emirates Stadium.
