Lucas Torreira On Becoming Arsenal's New Cult Hero: 'When they Sing For Me It Fills Me With So Much Pride'

Lucas Torreira is settling in well at Arsenal - Arsenal FC

For Arsenal, Lucas Torreira is the little “fighter” who wins the little battles. His influence should not be measured in goals or assists, but in the tackles he makes on the edge of his penalty area, the interceptions he sees on the halfway line and the passes that control the flow of the game. “They are small things out there,” he says. “But in the end they make a big difference.”

The Arsenal fans know this already, of course. For years they have longed for a player like Torreira, a midfielder who can fight at the back as well as flourish in attack. It should come as little surprise, then, that the Uruguayan has already been excitedly heralded as the answer to so many of Arsenal’s problems.

“It’s a great challenge and a new challenge for me,” says Torreira. “I’m the kind of person who likes to fight for these things, to always be fighting my way up, like my dad always tells me. I am so happy.”

He is happy with Arsenal, and there is no doubt that Arsenal are happy with him. His £26.4m transfer fee represented a significant outlay, but Torreira is already making good progress on justifying that fee since his arrival from Sampdoria. With him in the side, Arsenal have scored 24 goals and conceded four this season. Without him, they have scored nine goals and conceded 10.

“The most important thing for me is to try to bring balance to the team, to help the defenders and support the midfielders,” says Torreira. “To try to help the attackers and to be constantly trying to help in ordering that.

Arsenal have scored 24 goals and conceded only four with Torreira in the side this season
Arsenal have scored 24 goals and conceded only four with Lucas Torreira in the side this season
“Every time you go on the pitch you try to play. Obviously I want to have fun playing with my team-mates, to get things going and to help us win - as we have been doing. Always lending a hand, sacrificing in defence and in attack I am available to the team.”

It has helped Torreira’s adaptation to a new life in a new country that Arsenal have adjusted so quickly to the methods of head coach Unai Emery. Thursday night’s victory over Sporting CP, which Torreira described as “really, really courageous”, was their 11th consecutive win in all competitions.

“What I have seen in my short time here in England is that the football is much more intense, much more physical,” he says. “It only takes three or four passes to create a goalscoring opportunity. That’s not the case in Italy, where it’s not so open. The game there is very tactical and there is very little space to receive the ball.

“At first everything was new for me. It’s a new style of football. It’s different and so are my team-mates, but it’s always about fighting for it and working day after day. I am listening a lot and learning with the help of my team-mates and all the people in the club.”

Torreira recognises that English football is a different style to Serie A - Credit: ARSENAL FCView photos
Lucas Torreira recognises that English football is a different style to Serie A Credit: ARSENAL FC