Arsenal F.C. now have their third addition of the summer transfer window/Unai Emery era. Sampdoria holding midfielder Lucas Torreira joins Bayer Leverkusen goalkeeper Bernd Leno and Juventus defender Stephan Lichtsteiner as newly acquired Arsenal players this summer.
Torreira, whose arrival was confirmed by Sampdoria club President Massimo Ferrero, comes just one day after the Leno addition news broke.
“Torreira’s gone for €30m. I bought him from Pescara when nobody believed in him,” Ferrero revealed live on Italian television network Sportitalia.
“We gambled on him and we won, paying just €3m. The money we’re earning is necessary to increase our club’s capital.”
That’s some really nice self-congratulation there by Ferrero.
Torreira is a 22-year-old Uruguay international currently playing for the national side at the World Cup in Russia. It’s been reported that his international duty has held this deal up from reaching completion sooner.
Lucas Torreira can play box to box, but also drop back into a defensive role, and his arrival coincides with Jack Wilshere announcing yesterday that he will be departing from the club after 17 years of service.
Strengthening a weak midfield is one of Emery’s main tasks this summer and Torrerira is apparently part of that plan while Wilshere is not.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net and TheBank.News, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, a former writer for NBC Chicago.com and Chicago Tribune.com, is currently a regular contributor to SB Nation, WGN CLTV and Chicago Now.
Follow him on Twitter, Instagram, Sound Cloud and YouTube. The content of his cat’s Instagram account is unquestionably superior to any and all of his.