It has been said more than once, it doesn’t get any less accurate, but fans must be sick of hearing it, “I don’t believe Arsenal have replaced Patrick Viera.” Well maybe they have, is it possible that player is sitting within their squad but not being utilised to his full potential. Lucas Torreira may be diminutive, but aside from that, he is a combative, ball-playing central midfielder, sound familiar?
Though over a year since the Uruguayan joined the Gunners from Sampdoria for £26 million, we are yet to see a string of commanding performances. Unai Emery even made the midfielder watch videos of his best performances in an Arsenal shirt in an attempt to boost his confidence. Despite being slightly patronising, it shows the midfielder has had some excellent displays for the club, especially early on, and his manager has faith he can rediscover the form that prompted Emery to sign him.
What is not well known is that Torreira arrived in Italy as a striker, and was converted to a midfielder, which should mean he has the necessary capabilities to perform as a box to box midfielder. While his defensive stats in the Premier League indicate he capable and a tackle success rate of 61 per cent is exceptional, he is only averaging 1.7 per game. But 18 recoveries per 90 is exemplary, and a third more than N’Golo Kante has averaged throughout his Premier League tenure.
Consistency has been the 23-year-old’s undoing of late though, prompting Emery to issued a public challenge to the player to improve it as well as his positional work. The Metro reported that the player is personally unhappy with having been moved further up the field, instead of being part of a double pivot, as Emery wants to harness his ball-winning capability closer to the opposition goal.
With his background playing further forward, as well as being part of a Uruguay squad which sticks to a rigid 4-4-2, there is no doubt over whether Torreira can link defence and attack. Arsenal’s primary concern should be that his progression has stagnated and along with it his desire to be at the club.
There are huge question marks regarding his boss’s future in North London. Still, for now, he would be foolish to move on, the Emirates Stadium is the perfect platform to develop without league title expectations. Equally the club would be making a mistake in letting him go, his resale value is still high, and in time he could yet fill Viera’s boots.
