Lucas Torreira Q&A: Arsenal target is a dynamic defensive midfielder in the same mould as Marco Verratti
Arsenal have made Lucas Torreira their top midfield transfer target this summer and are locked in talks with his club Sampdoria over a proposed £22million deal.
Torreira is currently at the World Cup with Uruguay but Gunners negotiators Raul Sanllehi and Sven Mislintat are hopeful that a deal can be reached before the start of the tournament.
But just who is Torreira and what can Arsenal fans expect of him at the Emirates? Sportsmail have provided a handy Q&A on the promising midfielder.
Who is he?/What's he achieved so far?
Lucas Torreira is a 22-year-old Uruguayan midfielder who plays for Sampdoria having joined the north Italian side in the summer of 2016 from Pescara in Serie B.
Torreira was born in Fray Bentos, the Uruguayan port city not the canned meat brand, and played for Montevideo Wanders' youth team before moving to Italy to join Pescara aged 17.
Just five Serie B matches for Pescara were enough to convince Sampdoria to sign Torreira, for just £1m, before loaning him back for the 2015-16 campaign.
Since arriving at Sampdoria, Torreira has established himself as a key player at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris missing just five Serie A games across the last two seasons.
What type of player is he?
Given both started their professional careers at Pescara and both play the same position, comparisons with Paris Saint-Germain's Marco Verratti were inevitable, but there are noticeable similarities between the two players' styles.
Like Verratti, Torreira is an combative, energetic defensive midfielder who relies on his reading of the game to intercept passes and drive his team forward.
Torreira has brilliant anticipation for a player so young and is a proven ball-winner, pestering opposition midfielders in Serie A by nipping in and claiming possession.
His game in the final third needs work. Torreira doesn't boast the play-making ability of Verratti yet and has managed just eight senior career goals. But he already has all the attributes required for his position as a disciplined, defensive-minded midfielder.
Standing at just 5ft 5ins, Torreira is a diminutive presence in midfield but given the recent success of N'Golo Kante in England, Arsenal will not be deterred.
What about his international career?
There's a buzz around Uruguayan football at the moment. Granted this is partly because they've been drawn into Group A alongside Russia, Egypt and Saudi Arabia.
But it's also down to the tantalising central midfield partnership that could develop between Torreira and Juventus youngster Rodrigio Bentancur.
Granit Xhaka and Mohamed Elneny have yet to make the defensive midfield position their own - whether due to a lack of suitability to the role, lack of discipline or lack of tactical instructions from the manager.
Arsenal under Emery are set to become a far more tactical unit and if the Spaniard wants a tone-setting midfielder to transmit his message onto the pitch then Torreira looks the perfect signing.
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