Arsenal sign Lucas Torreira in £26.5m deal as Unai Emery continues revolution

Signed up | Torreira's tough tackling approach could be a good fit at the Emirates
AFP/Getty Images
James Benge10 July 2018

Arsenal have completed the signing of Sampdoria midfielder Lucas Torreira in a deal understood to be worth £26.5million.

Torreira has signed a five-year contract with the north London club, becoming their fourth major signing of the summer.

As Standard Sport has reported throughout the summer, a move for Torreira had been placed on the back burner whilst the Uruguay international was at the World Cup but, following La Celeste’s elimination at the quarter-final stage, Arsenal moved quickly to wrap up his signing.

The former Sampdoria anchorman is expected to be the last major acquisition of a summer that has seen new manager Unai Emery, together with heads of recruitment and football relations Sven Mislintat and Raul Sanllehi, overhaul the Arsenal defence.

Photo: Reuters
REUTERS

The 22-year-old, who will wear the No.11 shirt, is expected to add the steel that Arsenal’s midfield so often lacked during the final years of Arsene Wenger’s reign. Despite his relatively diminutive stature, standing at five-feet-five-inches tall, he showed an impressive physicality with both Uruguay at the World Cup and last season at Sampdoria.

Reacting to the signing, 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.”

Torreira’s arrival follows those of goalkeeper Bernd Leno, centre-back Sokratis Papastathopoulos and right-back Stephan Lichtsteiner and is expected to conclude the first-team strengthening this summer.

Lorient’s Matteo Guendouzi is also a target and has undergone a medical at Colney ahead of a £7m move. The France Under-20 international is regarded as a prospect for the future.

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