Arsenal: Lucas Torreira the only one that was surprised

Lucas Torreira has admitted to being “surprised” by Arsenal’s interest in him this summer, which makes him the only person that was “surprised” about it.

Prior to this season, if you sat one thousand Arsenal fans in a room and asked them to write on a sheet of paper the top two needs of the club, you would get one thousand “defensive midfielders” written at either the No. 1 or No. 2 position.

Pick any year, going all the way back a decade or so. It would still be the same story. One thousand ‘defensive midfielders’ written on that sheet of paper in either the first or second slot. That’s how obvious it was that it was exactly what we needed and yet, still, Arsene Wenger was rarely interested in a straight defensive midfielder.

So when Unai Emery rolled into town, it made sense that one of his first orders of business would be to bridge that gap, that long-time gap.

He went with Matteo Guendouzi and Lucas Torreira, both of whom have fill their respective roles rather admirably. But the latter of the two has remarked that he was actually quite surprised that the Gunners were interested in him, as he had expected to stay in Serie A.

More from Pain in the Arsenal

• 3 standout players from 1-0 victory over Everton
• 3 positives & negatives from Goodison Park victory
• Arsenal vs PSV preview: Prediction, team news & lineups
• 3 talking points from Arsenal’s victory at Goodison Park
• Mikel Arteta provides Gabriel Martinelli injury update after Everton win

Which makes him, officially, the first and perhaps only person in the world who would be surprised about it.

After seeing him in the World Cup, fans were all over him. He played with the tenacity that we were dying for, he had no qualms leveling Ronaldo and he looked like the bulldog, Kante-type that we had dreamed of for decades.

So when we heard that he had arrived, and when we saw his style of play, everything fit into place. Everything made sense. This was the end of a very long road, culminating in the ultimate answer.

I actually find it funny that he was surprised. It speaks to a level of humility if he didn’t consider that he would be hounded by a top team in the top league.

Suffice to say he is doing his job incredibly well, he is showcasing more talents that we were no where near expecting from him, not even including the bicycle kick to win the game against Huddersfield, and, all in all, things couldn’t be any better with him in the side.

And he’s only 22! I always have to remind myself of that. There is so much time for him to become a world beater that it’s pretty much inevitable.