Arsenal: Lucas Torreira bordering on most important signing of the decade

Arsenal have made a lot of signings in the past ten years, many of whom have done great things, but Lucas Torreira may be the most important of them all.

The last decade of Arsenal football club has been riddled with near-misses and semi-successes. But they’ve been notably unable to reach the heights that are expected of one of the most successful teams in footballing history.

Arsene Wenger’s initial successes were undercut by his desire to put the club in a better place for the long run. He did this with the Emirates, with the growth of the academy, with a lot of things.

But it was all at the expense of present day success.

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There were a ton of players that have come and gone in the past decade, but one player – or one player slot, rather – has remained unoccupied. That player slot is the one that N’Golo Kante might have filled, or that some other midfielder may have filled. But it never has been.

Lucas Torreira fills that role after so long of an absence. That, in and of itself, doesn’t make him the most important signing of the decade, however. What makes him the most important is the exact specifications of how well he fits the long-missing role.

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Not only is he exactly what we needed, and exactly what we have needed, but he is a mental warrior just as much. He is someone that gives everything, every second that he is on the pitch and as I keep gushing about, that is exactly what the Gunners have been missing for far too long.

Now we are sticking him into the heart of the formation, where it will be impossible for his dedication to the cause to go unnoticed by his team mates.

Forget Mesut Ozil, forget Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Forget the lot of the “marquee” signings we have made over the past decade. Torreira has the potential to become the most important signing we have made, and I don’t have any reservations saying that.

Sure, there’s a chance he doesn’t make it. There is always that chance. But Torreira’s can-do attitude won’t just go away, and so long as he has that, there will always be belief in what he can bring to a club that is lacking in his qualities.

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Can we just start the season already? I’m tired of talking about how wonderful he is. I’m ready to see it.