Lucas Torreira opens up on the phone call from Unai Emery that convinced him to join Arsenal last summer

The Uruguay international expected to leave Sampdoria for another Serie A club until the new Gunners boss intervened

Lucas Torreira has revealed that a phone call from Unai Emery led him to join Arsenal ahead of other interested clubs last summer.

Arsenal supporters have quickly taken to Torreira, the tenacious 22-year-old midfielder who has capped an impressive start to the season with two goals in his last three Premier League appearances to help secure victories over bitter rivals Tottenham and Huddersfield Town.

But the Uruguary international, who joined the Gunners from Sampdoria for around £26.5 million in July, admitted his career could have taken a very different path had Emery not intervened.

“At the end of my last season at Sampdoria there were lots of teams being talked about,” Torreira told Arsenal’s official Youtube channel.

“I never imagined coming here to England because it was mainly Italian clubs being mentioned. Before I left for the World Cup I got a call from the coach which was a massive surprise for me.

Torreira scored Arsenal's only goal in a 1-0 win over Huddersfield Town (Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

“I knew that I had earned it because of all my hard work and everything that I had done. That phone call made me a happy man.

“It allowed me to relax too because it allowed me to focus all my attention on the national team and the World Cup. I'm so proud to be part of such an important team.”

Torreira’s impact at Arsenal has been positive and immediate, injecting fresh urgency and aggression into a team widely accused of being too easy to bully during the Arsene Wenger era.

But the 22-year-old added that his transition to life in England on and off the pitch has not been quite as straightforward as it has appeared.

“It hasn't been easy though: there's the language and the issue of communicating,” he insisted.

“I'm lucky because the coach is Spanish and the coaching staff are too, so that makes things easier for me because they can explain things in Spanish to me.

“It's also not been easy to adapt to the football here: the intensity, the tempo and quality of games.

“At Sampdoria I had been used to playing in Serie A and Coppa Italia, whereas now I'm involved in four competitions here as well as the national team.”