Lucas Torreira set for medical at Arsenal

New Arsenal manager Unai Emery has been extremely busy this transfer window, having already secured the services of Sokratis, Bernd Leno and Stephan Lichtsteiner. Now, according to reports in Sky, he is closing in on his fourth signing of the summer. 

Uruguay midfielder Lucas Torreira is set to undergo a medical at the club today. Arsenal and Sampdoria had already worked out a deal for the 22-year-old worth £26m during the World Cup and it now looks like the transfer is all but done.

Torreira will add some much-needed steel and muscle to the Arsenal midfield, something they have sorely lacked since the departure of Patrick Vieira. The defensive midfielder has made 8 appearances for Uruguay in total and played a vital role in their run to the World Cup quarterfinals where they crashed out to France.

Torreira really came into prominence with his stellar displays for Sampdoria the past couple of seasons. He made 36 and 35 league appearances in the last two seasons respectively, helping his side finish in the top half in 2017/18, a one spot improvement from the 2016/17 season when they finished 11th.

The Italian side are well-equipped to deal with Torreira's departure, having secured the services of Czech Republic midfielder Jakub Jankto, who had earlier been linked with Arsenal as well.

Along with Torreira,  France Under-20 international Matteo Guendouzi too is set for a medical. The 19-year-old will join the Gunners from Lorient and is one to watch out for in the future.

Torreira, meanwhile, has come in for some high praise from managers who have watched him up close. Marcello Donatelli, Pescara's assistant manager at one point in time, feels the midfielder can go on to become something really special in the future.

'He has always been strong in understanding those defensive tactical aspects and he is very mature tactically in terms of how he reads the game. He can cope with the gaps that emerge in midfield with great intelligence and he covers very well. He is the one who corrects the spaces and cuts out the passes between the lines in the defensive phase. After Sergio Busquets, he is tactically the strongest midfielder in Europe,' he stated to Sky Sports.