Arsenal: Take care not to forget the upside of Lucas Torreira

Arsenal’s purchase of Lucas Torreira immediately brought about parallels to N’Golo Kante, but don’t let that get in the way of the upside with the Uruguayan.

When Arsenal first announced the signing of Lucas Torreira, it was inevitable that the comparisons to N’Golo Kante would come in hard and fast. Both are small, both are tenacious, both attack the ball like a rabid hyena.

I decided to rabble-rouse a bit, though, and said that to call Torreira another Kante was to sell him short of his true potential – meaning that he could, and should, be better than Kante by time he gets to his prime years.

It’s hard to remember, with Guendouzi being three years younger and arguably just as good in the here and now, that Torreira is only 22 and has tremendous upside himself. We talk so much about the potential of players like Alex Iwobi and Ainsley Maitland-Niles as well, but Torreira, just because he’s an established player, is in the same age range.

Not just that, but he has skill sets that are still in development as well, just like them. Sure, he’s a ball hound, who attacks opponents in possession and has a way of always being in the thick of it, but there’s more to him than just that, hence my initial claims that he could eventually be more than Kante.

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Torreira used to be compared to Carlos Tevez, because he was one of those undersized, yet stout, voracious strikers. He scored goals.

Torreira has two goals and two assists on the year, but in the process of finding himself this year, we started to see some Ramsey-esque traits of making late runs and making himself available in threatening positions, where he had chances at goal.

Not just that, but he is a known free kick taker who can strike the ball well from distance with a thunderous foot.

That’s all in development, mind you. In the midst of him being an established ball winner, he is learning to do more with his attacking power, as well as his defensive positioning. And like Guendouzi, it’s okay if it’s not all there yet. Guendouzi isn’t the only player who gets to grow into his bigger boots.

I often have to remind myself that Torreira has a right to grow as well. he may have cost over three times as much as Guendouzi, as well as being three times as known, but age is universal, and he has a lot to improve upon. In a good way.