Arsenal: There’s only one reason Lucas Torreira isn’t concerning

Arsenal were supposed to have their own N’Golo Kante in Lucas Torreira, but he’s sputtering now, and there’s only one reason why that isn’t concerning.

Lucas Torreira has not been a big part of Unai Emery’s Arsenal this year. He’s been relegated to midweek duties, making the occasional spot start in the Premier League, but overall, it just hasn’t been a good start to the year for him.

This coming after the rumors that he was unsettled in London and keen to go back to Italy, where the Gunners nabbed him for a pretty hefty £23m+ fee. That’s no small change, and the fact that he is now an afterthought of the starting XI should start to get him dangerously close to the “flop” talks, but thus far, he has completely avoided them.

And there’s one clear reason why—Matteo Guendouzi.

When Torreira first arrived at the club, he wasn’t able to play right away because of his involvement in the World Cup for Uruguay.

Instead, Guendouzi took the spotlight and made everyone think that maybe it was going to be Torreira playing catch-up to Guendouzi rather than vice versa. In time, Torreira’s superior experience won out, but Guendouzi established himself as one for the future, and all eyes turned towards him.

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This year, Guendouzi has capitalized on his incredible talent and locked down a starting role next to the captain, Granit Xhaka. Which, given the need for a more attack-minded midfielder to complete the three, excludes Torreira, except when Emery is feeling particularly saucy and thinks of Torreira as an attacking option. Which he isn’t.

Still, Torreira’s diminished role is absolutely concerning, when you get past the fact that it’s not like we’re dying because of it. Sure, he’s still young, but coupling the start of this year with the troubles he had in the summer trying to convince the fans that he actually wanted to be here and I’m leaning towards asking the question, “How long is he actually going to be here?”

It’s not going to get any easier. Joe Willock is on the up and up alongside Guendouzi, both have talent across the board and both are younger than Torreira, who doesn’t seem to be getting definitively better.

Again, it’s not concerning in the big picture because we have so many midfield options. But it’s concerning in isolation for Torreira himself because we obviously want to see him succeed.