Arsenal: Lucas Torreira can and should end an ugly era

Arsenal have supposedly nabbed Lucas Torreira, which can and should call to an end a very unfortunate era that has lingered for too long.

There was one point in time in recent Arsenal history when Arsene Wenger made it clear that he didn’t want a straight defensive midfielder. As fans, it was all we wanted, but to Wenger, it didn’t make sense. That’s what a defense is for, so why waste an entire position on more defense?

Instead, we loaded up on small, creative midfielders who could win the ball, if necessary. Aaron Ramsey, Jack Wilshere, Santi Cazorla and more have populated the midfield in an attempt to gain stability, but still, the lack of a true ball winner has been a massive void.

Francis Coquelin had this defensive tenacity, but he lacked anything else, and all attempts to develop some semblance of an offensive impulse failed miserably.

Now that Wenger has stepped away and Unai Emery is at the helm, that bias can go away. However, the Wenger theory of wasting a midfield position on defense is pretty well verified. We’ve been spoiled by dynamic midfielders while suffering on the defensive side of things.

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Lucas Torreira is the solution. He is a ball-winner through and through, completing over five ball-winning players per appearance. No one at Arsenal is near that. They all serve in different capacities, none of which involve doing what Torreira does so well.

Meaning he would be the first guy to fill such a role since – dare I say it – Patrick Vieira. Ever since the French midfielder left, the Gunners have been begging for a replacement, but no one has been able to do it. To put so many facets of the game together into one midfield product? That’s next to impossible.

Now, let me say that in no way am I saying that Torreira is the next Vieira. But he’s the closest thing we’ll have had to Vieira since the man himself was here. The collection of skills makes him an all-purpose midfielder, the likes of which we have been sorely missing in the worst way.

At just 22-years-old, Torreira can create for himself a comfy spot in a new era at a massive club. It doesn’t get much better than that for a young man trying to establish himself. He will score goals, he will win balls, he will control games. And he will do it all in the red and white.

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All we have to do now is wrap the deal up and get to planning.

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