Following his impressive World Cup displays with Uruguay, many Arsenal fans would have expected Lucas Torreira (signed for £26m) to establish himself as a star within the club’s midfield this season.
It is still early days, but so far that has not been the case. Torreira was restricted to an appearance off the bench during Arsenal’s 3-2 defeat against Chelsea last weekend.
He was guilty of giving away possession to the dangerous Eden Hazard, who subsequently went on to set up Marcos Alonso, who netted the winner during the 81st minute.
Torreira still has almost an entire season ahead of him and he will be given more opportunities certainly to prove himself.
Many would have expected Torreira to have replaced Guendouzi in the Gunners’ starting XI for the game against Chelsea, but that has not been the case.
The 19-year-old Guendouzi arrived at the Emirates during the summer transfer window from Ligue 1 outfit Lorient and many fans of the Gunners did not even know who he was prior to the summer.
The youngster has certainly proven during the games against Manchester City and Chelsea that he is good enough to warrant selection for the first-team. He played with plenty of heart during the game against Chelsea and has even shown that he is capable going forward.
We can only hope that Torreira will get better as the season progresses. Guendouzi did have an advantage over his South American counterpart in a sense that he had more pre-season action and also did not have to play in the World Cup, which will give him an advantage as far as energy is concerned.
