Arsenal: Can Lucas Torreira see the best Granit Xhaka?

Granit Xhaka showed glimpses of his best form in the closing months of last season. He has again shown such form in the World Cup. Could Lucas Torreira help bring out the best Granit Xhaka and unlock the full potential of the Arsenal midfield?

Arsenal signed Granit Xhaka for £35 million. When they did, he was their second-most expensive signing in their history behind only Mesut Ozil and equal to Alexis Sanchez. He was not signed to merely be a good midfielder. Much more of him was expected than just adequacy.

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But that is not what he has delivered in the two years that he has been at the Emirates. His first season was wildly inconsistent. Disciplinary problems were painfully prevalent, he struggled to forge for himself in the starting XI, with Arsene Wenger turning to Santi Cazorla and Francis Coquelin frequently, and he seemingly lacked the natural athleticism to handle the higher tempo of the English game.

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He did, though, improve greatly in the latter months of the season. His understanding of English football matured, hiding his defensive and athletic shortcomings, his passing was far more incisive and intentional, and he slotted into the team far more comfortably. Entering his second season, it was hoped that he would then truly kick on and become the commanding, orchestrating influence at the heart of the midfield that he was signed to be. Not until the closing months of the year did that vision ever come to fruition.

The best version of Xhaka required legs. By the end of the season, Wenger had flanked the much-maligned midfielder with Aaron Ramsey and Jack Wilshere, two busy and energetic players who cover a lot of ground. That protected Xhaka, limiting some of his more undermining shortcomings, and him allowed to focus on his distribution, his controlling the game through metronomic passing, his deep-lying passing that moved Arsenal through the phases of the pitch.

This was the best Granit Xhaka. That is the Granit Xhaka that Arsenal expected consistently when they signed him for £35 million. It is also the Granit Xhaka that we are seeing at the World Cup with a similarly shaped central midfield around him. And now, as Wenger departs and Unai Emery arrives, as Wilshere and Cazorla move on and the midfield is re-engineered, can the Gunners produce the right environment to consistently get the best Granit Xhaka once more?

Well, it might be possible. Although official confirmation has not yet come, Arsenal are on the verge of signing Sampdoria midfielder Lucas Torreira for a fee expected to be approximately £26 million. He is the precise type of player that would help shield Xhaka. Deceptively fast across the ground, snappy in the tackle, a nuisance to play against, relentless in his pursuit, hounding and harassing in his pressing.

Clearly, the whole team should not be built around getting the best out of Xhaka. He does not deserve such stature. But if Torreira’s accompaniment of Xhaka in the midfield can both solve the problem of defensive imbalance and also further harness his skill set, then, suddenly, this midfield becomes a very different proposition altogether.

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Xhaka has shown glimpses of his ability and his best form. He has the qualities to be the midfield general that Arsenal signed him to be. But he needs to be put in the right situation. Torreira could be the man to build that situation.