Arsenal have announced the arrival of Lucas Torreira from Italian side Sampdoria in a reported deal worth £26m.
The Gunners have now made four signings this summer following the arrivals of Bernd Leno, Sokratis and Stephan Lichtsteiner.
Torreira emerged as one of the brightest prospects in Serie A last season and was linked with a move to Juventus.
However, Unai Emery’s side have won the race for the 22-year-old and have wrapped up a deal following Uruguay’s elimination from the 2018 World Cup.
“In Lucas Torreira, we have signed a young player who is a very bright talent in the game,” Emery told the club’s official website.
“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 at 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 has been awarded Mesut Ozil’s old No.11 shirt but the Uruguayan is of complete contrast to the Germany international.
While Ozil is often criticised for his blasé attitude on the pitch, Torreira is full throttle. Arsenal have lacked bite in midfield and Torreira will certainly provide that.
In fact, Torreira has won more tackles and interceptions combined than any other player in the last two Serie A campaigns (356), while also winning possession in the middle third the most (317).
