Manchester United legend-turned-pundit has praised the qualities of Lucas Torreira following his top-notch showing in Uruguay’s 2-1 win over Portugal.
The South American nation managed to oust Portugal from the World Cup after his impressive brace from Edinson Cavani in the round of 16 but Neville levied special praise on the central defensive partnership of Jose Gimenez and Diego Godin.
Meanwhile, the ITV pundit added to point to the qualities of Torreira, who had made a number of critical interceptions in the penalty box during the course of the game.
“Torreira, the boy in midfield, he gets back in – I don’t know how many times he got back in as the ball was pulled back behind the two centre-backs and he was there to clear it,” he said.
Arsenal have been heavily linked with the Sampdoria man over the past month but a recent tweet from BBC’s David Ornstein has suggested that a deal has yet to be finalised.
Nevertheless, the north London side are deemed to be in pole position to acquire the midfielder’s services with the Italian club’s president recently confirming that Torreira has been sold in a deal worth £26m – the same sum Arsenal are said to have offered.
Torreira’s Uruguay have now progressed into the quarter-final stage of the World Cup where they are scheduled to face France, who beat Argentina by a 4-3 scoreline.
The 22-year-old has been in impressive form for Uruguay after securing back-to-back starts for the first time in his international career and the next game will be relishing to watch with Torreira facing off against one of the best holding midfielders in the business in N’Golo Kante.
