Lucas Torreira

Lucas Sebastián Torreira Di Pascua ([ˈlukas toˈrejɾa]; born 11 February 1996) is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Premier League club Arsenal and the Uruguay national team.

Early career

Torreira started his youth football career at hometown club I.A. 18 de Julio of Fray Bentos. In 2013, he joined Montevideo Wanderers' youth team before moving to Italy where he joined Pescara's youth team.

Pescara

Before the 2014–15 season, Torreira was called up for Pescara's first team and, on 25 October 2014, he sat on the bench for the first time. He made his senior debut in Serie B on 16 May 2015 against Varese, playing the game as a starter. He played 58 minutes before being replaced with Matteo Politano.

Sampdoria

On 1 July 2015, Torreira was transferred to Sampdoria for €1.5 million, but he remained with Pescara on loan for the 2015–16 season to gain first-team experience.

Pescara (loan)

On 2 July, his loan to Pescara became official. On 9 August 2015, Torreira scored his first professional goal against F.C. Südtirol in the 2015–16 Coppa Italia.

Return to Sampdoria

After the Pescara loan ended, Torreira returned to Sampdoria on 1 July 2016. On 21 August 2016, Torreira made his Serie A debut in their opening game against Empoli at the Stadio Carlo Castellani. He started the game and played the entirety of the 90+ minutes on the field.

He became a regular for Sampdoria in the 2016–17 season, and continued showing his importance to the team in the 2017–18 season; scoring vital goals, including the second goal in Sampdoria's 3–2 win over Juventus in November.

Arsenal

On 10 July 2018, Torreira joined English club Arsenal for an undisclosed fee, believed to be around £26M. Torreira was given the number 11 shirt, previously worn by Mesut Özil, who took the vacant number 10 following the departure of Jack Wilshere.

2018–19 season

Torreira made his Premier League debut on 12 August, coming on as a substitute on the 70th minute in a 2–0 defeat to Manchester City. Torreira registered his first assist of the season, by setting up Alexandre Lacazette's winning goal in a 3–2 win over Cardiff City. Torreira made his full-debut and his Europa League debut for Arsenal in the 4–2 win over FC Vorskla Poltava on 2 September, before being replaced in the 57th minute by Matteo Guendouzi. Torreira's performance in Arsenal's 1–1 draw with Liverpool drew particularly high praise from fans and pundits alike, picking up the man-of-the-match award. On 2 December, Torreira scored his first Arsenal goal and picked up another man-of-the-match award against Tottenham Hotspur when he latched on to a pass from Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to slot the ball past Hugo Lloris to give Arsenal a fourth goal in a 4–2 North London derby victory. A week later, on 8 December, Torreira scored a late 83rd-minute winner against Huddersfield Town with a bicycle kick, giving him his second goal in as many games at the Emirates Stadium. In the match, Torreira was also awarded his fifth consecutive Arsenal Man of the Match performance. Torreira was dismissed in stoppage time, during the club's reverse fixture against Tottenham at Wembley, after a late challenge on Tottenham, defender Danny Rose, the match ended 1–1 and was Torreira's first red card for Arsenal, although Arsenal attempted to appeal the ban, their appeal was rejected by the FA, this meant that Torreira's ban would still result in a three-match ban, meaning Torreira would miss Arsenal's games against Manchester United, Newcastle United and Everton.

2019–20 season

Torreira made his first appearance of the season in Arsenal's 2–1 win over Burnley. Torreira scored his first goal of the season in Arsenal's 3–1 defeat to Liverpool after replacing Dani Ceballos in the 61st minute.

Torreira was born in Uruguay, and is of Spanish descent through his paternal grandfather from Galicia. He holds a Spanish passport, and was scouted by the senior Italy national football team before he was capped by Uruguay.

Torreira was called up to full Uruguay squad for the 2018 China Cup in March 2018. He made his debut in the 2–0 win over the Czech Republic in the China Cup semi-final.

In May 2018, he was named in Uruguay's provisional 26-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.

Upon signing for Arsenal in 2018, The Independent's Jack Austin stated "Torreira is exactly the kind of no-nonsense midfielder the club have been craving", adding that in Uruguay colours during the 2018 World Cup "he went about his job as the deep-lying pivot in the middle of the park with none of the fuss and all of the discipline of a player who has built a tidy reputation for himself in Serie A", while assessing his chief weaknesses as a lack of height in aerial duels and little goal threat.

WhoScored notes that he is a player that likes to shoot from distance and often gets fouled. They also note that he likes to play short passes and make tackles.

Club

As of match played 26 July 2020

International

As of match played 18 November 2019

Arsenal

• UEFA Europa League runner-up: 2018–19

Uruguay

• China Cup: 2018, 2019