Facts about Arsenal's defensive stalwart Lucas Torreira

Lucas Torreira was born in Fray Bentos in Uruguay and started his football career as a youth playing for his boyhood club I.A 18 de Julio of Fray Bentos. He stands at 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in) tall.

In 2013, he moved to Montevideo Wanderers' youth team in Uruguay. He later moved to Italy that same year to join the Pescara youth team set-up.

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Pescara youth team

Following his impressive displays, he was called to the first team of Pescara, where he was called to the bench for the first time on October 25, 2014. He made his senior debut in Serie B on 16 May 2015 against Varese, playing the game from the start.

In this game, he played 58 minutes before he was replaced with Matteo Politano. He played five games including promotion playoffs in the season.

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Sampdoria (loan to Pescara)

On July 1 2015, Sampdoria reached an agreement with Pescara for the transfer of Lucas Torreira for a fee reported to be around €1.5 million. However, he was sent back on loan to Pescara for the 2015-16 season to garner more experience.

That loan move to Pescara in July 2015 happened to be the turning point in his career. On 9 August 2015, Torreira scored his first professional goal against F.C. Südtirol in the 2015–16 Coppa Italia. He played 26 games and scored three league goals playing from a defensive midfield position that season. He also played three games and scored one goal in the promotion play-off.

Lucas Torreira in action for Sampdoria against Juventus

At the expiration of his loan move to Pescara from parent club Sampdoria, he returned to the club on July 1, 2016. On August 21, 2016, Torreira made his debut for Sampdoria in a league game against Empoli and played for the entire 90 minutes.

As a result of his impressive displays, he established himself as a first team regular in the 2016-17 season. He scored important goals for the team including a fine strike against Serie A giants Juventus in a 3-2 win in November.

Did you know these facts about Torreira?

Torreira in action for Sampdoria against AS Roma

#1 Lucas Torreira was born in Uruguay and is of Spanish descent through his paternal grandfather from Galicia.

#2 Torreira holds a Spanish passport because of his links to Spain.

#3 He was scouted by the senior Italy national football team before he was capped by Uruguay.

#4 His full name is Lucas Sebastian Torreira Di Pascua.

#5 Barcelona star Luis Suarez, who was close to joining Arsenal in 2013, had a big say in Lucas Torreira move to Arsenal, according to his agent Pablo Bentancur

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Lucas Torreira's quotes

..........on returning from his loan move from Pescara to Sampdoria

“I feel I’ve got what it takes to be a part of this team. I hope to earn the coach’s confidence and my team-mates’ too,” he told Samp TV.

.........on his Arsenal's fans tracking his flight to London before his move to Arsenal

"Yes, for a while I’ve been receiving loads of messages in my social media accounts. I guess it's all down to the fact there were talks of me moving to Arsenal even before the World Cup started. I am very happy and I hope I can meet all the fans very soon," he told Arsenal media.