If you think back to only 10 years ag,o the thought of a £26m signing being a bargain was almost impossible, in fact, Arsenal’s record transfer fee was only £15m up until 2013. However, in an era where buying a player to improve your first XI can cost way over £60m, the signing of Lucas Torreira is really turning out to be a stunning piece of business by Arsenal.
With a team full of underperforming stars, Arsenal really failed to deliver last season. Many big signings, such as Grant Xhaka and Shkodran Mustafi, were yet to perform at the required level and as always with Arsenal, a good attacking record was marred by an awful defensive one.
Not exactly the most favourable team to join as a defensive-midfielder.
Step forward Lucas Torreira.
Torreira was a relative unknown to English fans before this summer and after some positive displays for Uruguay at the World Cup, Arsenal supporters started to get excited.
Somehow, even with the huge optimism over a player with no top level experience, Torreira has been able to completely transform the team. Xhaka is a new man with the diminutive ball winner next to him and Arsenal’s overall performances have been a lot more balanced with Torreira in the side.
A lot of the tactical improvements this season can obviously be credited to Unai Emery and he deserves a lot of credit for what he has managed with the team, especially after the master class he produced against Tottenham on the weekend.
However, the little Uruguayan has been a revelation for the Gunners this season and he doesn’t seem to be showing any signs of slowing down.
With three Man of the Match awards in his last three Premier League matches (with two of those coming against Liverpool and Tottenham) Torreira is already a key player in this Arsenal side and will have to continue this form if the Gunners want to regain their position in the top four come the end of the season.
