Official: Arsenal complete the signing of Uruguay Midfielder Lucas Torreira for £26.4m

Arsenal have completed the signing of Lucas Torreira from Sampdoria in a deal worth £26.4million, the club have confirmed.

Torreira, 22, becomes Unai Emery’s fourth signing of the summer following the Gunners’ captures of Stephan Lichtsteiner from Juventus, Bernd Leno from Bayer Leverkusen and Sokratis from Borussia Dortmund.

With Jack Wilshere and Santi Cazorla leaving, Torreira emerged as the club’s top target to cover that hole in the midfield.

Asked about Arsenal’s latest signing, Emery told the club’s official website: ‘In Lucas Torreira, we have signed a young player who is a very bright talent in the game. A midfielder with great quality, I have enjoyed watching his performances for Sampdoria in the past two seasons, and we all saw him do very well for Uruguay in the World Cup.

‘He is a young player already with good experience, but who wants to keep on growing. ‘We welcome Lucas to Arsenal and look forward to him joining us soon for pre-season.’

The Uruguayan will wear the No. 11 shirt which was vacant after Mesut Ozil took Jack Wilshere’s No. 10

He enjoyed a productive campaign for Sampdoria in Serie A, with his performances earning him a place in Uruguay’s squad for the World Cup in Russia, where he eventually nailed down a starting spot.

After defeat to France in the quarter finals, Torreira opted not to fly with the rest of his teammates back to Montevideo and instead jetted straight into London on Monday, passing a medical and penning terms.