ARSENAL are reportedly eyeing Sampdoria midfielder Lucas Torreira.
The 22-year-old is in Uruguay’s squad for Russia 2018 and is said to have attracted interest from Liverpool, Everton, Juventus and Napoli.
CalcioMercato report that the Gunners are keen and could pay his £22million (25m euro) release fee.
Torreira is a defensive midfielder who left his homeland to sign for Serie B outfit Pescara five years ago, moving to Sampdoria at the start of the 2016-17 campaign.
Arsenal are trying to get their business done as early as possible before international stars head to Russia 2018.
And while two of their three defensive targets are not going to the World Cup, Torreira could be tied up for the next six weeks if Uruguay have a good run at the tournament.
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New boss Unai Emery has agreed to the Greek international, 29, becoming the first part of a major defensive overhaul.
Head of recruitment Sven Mislintat knows Papastathopoulos, who turns 30 next week, from his time as Dortmund’s chief scout and has used the link to lure the former AC Milan star to London.
Arsenal are also in talks with Swiss skipper Stephan Lichtsteiner, 34, who is heading to Russia as a free agent after reaching the end of his contract at Juventus.
Turkey centre-half Caglar Soyuncu, 22, is another target, although Freiburg’s £35m valuation could be a stumbling block.
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Soyuncu said: “Arsenal are one of the most important clubs in Europe and I know they are interested.
“We’ll have talks after the national team camp but nothing is finalised about my transfer.”
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