Arsenal's Torreira ready to fight for his dreams ahead of 50th appearance

Torreira plays his 50th match for Arsenal tonight. The club’s smallest player has grown in stature beyond compare since this time last year when, still a Sampdoria player, he was celebrating a call-up to Uruguay’s World Cup squad. A successful summer in Russia cemented a £26m (€29.4m) deal to become one of Unai Emery’s first signings after replacing Arsene Wenger.

Arsenal had been crying out for a ball-winning defensive midfielder so it should not come as a surprise how quickly he was accepted in north London. Fiercely competitive yet charmingly self-effacing, Torreira is everything Arsenal had needed to help shield a fragile defence.