Arsenal: Lucas Torreira could find bright future with Mikel Arteta

Lucas Torreira has not settled in well at Arsenal, but Mikel Arteta’s fresh perspective may be the fresh twist that Torreira needs to succeed.

With Mikel Arteta about to be announced as the new Arsenal manager, it’s time to start thinking about the effect this will have on certain players. As for me, my first thought was of Lucas Torreira, the unsettled Uruguayan who so many had pegged for sold in the coming windows.

Seeing as how Arteta has no managerial experience, it’s impossible to discern what his plan will be with each player because there’s just nothing to compare it to. What I’m basing this assessment off of is what Arteta experienced as a player at the same club that Torreira is now struggling to settle into.

Arteta was not the most popular of figures during his time at a midfielder, but it wasn’t exactly at any fault of his own. Arsene Wenger insisted on using the Spaniard as a holding midfielder when that clearly wasn’t where he was best suited.

Essentially, Arteta played the same position that Torreira should be playing, but neither one ended up playing the position they were better suited for. The big difference is that there’s still time to fix Lucas Torreira’s side of that.

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Unai Emery was determined to maximize Torreira’s attacking tendencies, so he relied on Granit Xhaka to be the last midfielder, trusting Torreira to get forward and contribute to the attack.

Arteta is an intelligent footballing mind who won’t have soon forgotten what it takes to create an effective midfield. If anyone is going to know how best to utilize Torreira, it’s going to be Arteta. And if there is anyone at this club who needs to be better utilized, it’s Torreira.

There may be a lot of questions about the pending Arteta appointment, but whatever happens, Torreira will find a needed ally in his new manager. Which may be why reports have just emerged that the club is refusing to sell Torreira in the January window. I wouldn’t be surprised if Arteta had come to the table using Torreira as a major selling point to boost his managerial candidacy.

We certainly need a better midfield strategy, that’s for sure. If Arteta can bring that, he’s already made a tremendous impact on the club. And now I’ve gone and gotten my hopes up that the midfield trio can reign supreme again.