Arsenal legend Ray Parlour has reserved special praise for Lucas Torreira, who has been pivotal to the club’s bright start to the current Premier League season. The Uruguay international joined the Gunners from Sampdoria shortly after a good World Cup with Uruguay and he has since livened up things at the heart of the club’s midfield.
In a report covered by The Star, Parlour highlighted that Granit Xhaka has not made much difference to the proceedings this term and rather Torreira has been the one, who has got the Gunners ticking from the heart of the midfield, he said: “I’ve seen the difference now, they’re a lot more hard to break down now than they was at the start of the season, because Torreira wasn’t playing. Gilberto Silva, he done a wonderful job in that unbeaten season. And them sort of guys, again you won’t see them a lot during the game, but he does a great job. So it looks a lot more balanced now with Torreira playing.”
“Torreira was initially utilised from the bench during the early phase of the Premier League campaign“ and when asked on the decision, manager Unai Emery appeared to highlight that the Uruguayan had a language barrier. However, as the season has progressed, he has “become a regular feature“alongside Xhaka, who has continued to keep his position despite the odd mistake.
Meanwhile, Arsenal have remained unbeaten since the back-to-back defeats against Manchester City and Chelsea to start the campaign and they are currently three points behind fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur. Elsewhere in the Europa League, they have already reached the round of 16 stage after picking up 10 points from four matches but require one more point to cement the top spot in the group. Arsenal are scheduled to face Eddie Howe’s Bournemouth on the road after the international break.