Arsenal: Lucas Torreira’s ceiling doesn’t even exist

Arsenal are finding Lucas Torreira to be everything they could have possibly dreamed of, but the true extent of what he can do hasn’t even been tickled yet.

I’ve been gushing over Lucas Torreira for months now, and maybe that’s just because it’s such an easy thing to do, but more likely, it’s because he has changed Arsenal. He has given them exactly what they needed in exactly the right spot and the club is reacting positively to it under a manager that knows how to make the most of it.

Part of my gush-fest surrounding Torreira has centered on one big thing – how much room there still is to improve. And most of my gushing in this regard comes from his attacking ability, and the strides we are seeing there.

Consider that he now has a goal and an assist in consecutive, rather large matches, for instance, and you will see what I’m talking about. He is getting more involved further up the pitch and this is just the start.

But when you turn and focus on the defensive side of things, you’ll see that he hasn’t reached his true potential yet in that department either. Not even close.

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Consider how he plays. He is a ball hawk who snuffs out attacks by fearlessly attacking the ball wherever it happens to be. In that sense, he has a ton of similarities to N’Golo Kante, yet Torreira’s numbers haven’t yet tickled the types of numbers that Kante consistently puts up.

In fact, Torreira is right in the middle of the traditional ball winners at Arsenal. Mustafi wins the ball back on average 4.3 times. Granit Xhaka 3.3. Matteo Guendouzi 3.4. And Torreira is right there at 3.4 as well.

The key aspect of his game that hasn’t translated to physical numbers yet is the tackling. He’s not even completing two tackles per game and finds himself tied for fourth on the team. Yet when you watch him play, you can tell that he is going to be a fantastic tackler, again, just by the way he plays, by the way he snaps at the ball.

Meaning, yes, Torreira is going to get even better in more faculties than we have already covered.

Essentially, there is no ceiling for Torreira. And that isn’t a short joke (okay, maybe it is). If he continues to grow (again, not a short joke) with his attacking and defensive play, there is no real way to quantify how good he could become.