Lucas Torreira’s possible Arsenal shirt number as midfielder prepares for Gunners switch

Lucas Torreira’s move to Arsenal is imminent after the Uruguay international confirmed that he was off to London to complete his medical with the north London club.

The Gunners agreed a fee with Sampdoria for his services before the World Cup began, but Torreira held off completing the move until he was home from Russia, to allow him to focus on the tournament.

The 22-year-old admitted that he is now off to London to complete his move, instead of travelling back to Montevideo with the rest of his teammates.

Torreira spoke to Uruguayan media at the airport ahead of his flight to London.

He told Telenoche: “I would have been very happy to be able to return to Uruguay with my teammates, but this is a fantastic opportunity [to join Arsenal] and I do not want to waste it.”

Talk has already turned to what shirt number the Uruguayan may be handed, so we decided to take a look at the options available to him.

Currently at Arsenal the number three is vacant. It’s normally reserved for a left-back, and was previously worn by Nigel Winterburn and Ashley Cole.

Nacho Monreal and Sead Kolasinac, who wear the 18 and 31 shirts respectively, could feasibly switch to three, freeing up their numbers for Torreira.

But it seems unlikely there will be any movement on this front.

The second number – perhaps the most likely to be handed to Torreira – is 11.

The number was most recently worn by Mesut Ozil, who always had his eye on Jack Wilshere’s 10, which he recently managed to get his hands on.

Torreira isn’t an attacking midfielder, like the number 11 would suggest, but it’s the closest first team shirt to his position on the pitch.

Aside from these two choices, other numbers available are 19, 24, 29, and 33.