Unai Emery pronounced himself impressed with the humility and consistency of Lucas Torreira after Arsenal’s big-name summer signing put in another strong display for the Gunners.
Though Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang won the headlines for their braces in a 5-1 win over Fulham in which Aaron Ramsey also scored it was the Uruguayan who ensured Arsenal were able to weather much of the Cottagers pressure in a more even first half.
Torreira made six interceptions compared with seven made by the rest of Emery’s side and won possession back for Arsenal eight times, more than any other player.
The 22-year-old had to be patient after his £27million move from Sampdoria after the World Cup and was a substitute in each of Arsenal’s first five league matches of the season. Now that he has earned his starting spot it will be hard for the rest of Emery’s squad to wrestle it back from Torreira.
“He’s very young, it's his first season here at this level but he was playing in Italy which is a very hard competition also,” Emery said. “He is playing also with his national team, against big teams.
“Here, I think with his process he's doing very well. The first is his humility to work every day, to listen, to learn.
“He is playing today in the middle, then right in the 4-4-2 and his performance is the same.
“I think his career is just starting and we want to do it with him, he can do it with us, giving us and giving him the best performances at the best level.”
Arsenal secured their convincing victory without Mesut Ozil, who reported for training on Saturday suffering with back spasms. The German will be free to train at Colney during the next fortnight whilst Torreira joins the clutch of players jetting out on international duty.
Emery noted that Torreira would have a particularly strenuous schedule with Uruguay playing Japan and South Korea in Asia but insisted he was convinced his diminutive dynamo could take the strain.
