Arsenal transfer news: Unai Emery reveals why he wanted to sign Lucas Torreira from Sampdoria

This is why the club moved so quickly to sign the midfielder from Sampdoria

Arsenal’s new head coach Unai Emery has revealed why the club have moved to sign Lucas Torreira from Sampdoria.

The 22-year-old Uruguay midfielder had a fine World Cup in Russia and on Monday signed a long-term deal with Arsenal.

He has been handed the number 11 shirt for the 2018/19 campaign and will join up with the squad in early August.

“In Lucas Torreira, we have signed a young player who is a very bright talent in the game,” Emery told the Arsenal website.

“A midfielder with great quality, I have enjoyed watching his performances for Sampdoria in the past two seasons, and we all saw him do very well for Uruguay in the World Cup.

“He is a young player already with good experience, but who wants to keep on growing. We welcome Lucas to Arsenal and look forward to him joining us soon for pre-season.”

For more news on Arsenal’s latest summer signing: click here.