TV pundit Gary Neville says he has been surprised by how good Lucas Torreira has been for Arsenal this season.

The 22-year-old featured for Uruguay at last summer’s World Cup, and the former Manchester United defender said he watched the midfielder in action.

While he thought he was a good player, he felt the Uruguayan could be dominated by stronger opponents, but since arriving in the Premier League, that hasn’t been the case:

“I’ve been massively impressed. I watched him at the World Cup. I did the France-Uruguay game live and I have to say, he was tenacious. First half-an-hour he got about the pitch, he was like a terrier.”

“But then actually as France started to get on top, he started to get dominated. The likes of [Paul] Pogba in midfield, [Blaise] Matuidi, [Antoine] Griezmann dropping in, I just remember thinking he [Torreira] couldn’t get around the pitch.”

“When Arsenal signed him, you just wondered how would it be? But his impact upon that team has been huge. I think it’s the biggest impact actually.”

Torreira has been in excellent form since his arrival from Sampdoria in the summer. As well as being tenacious and hard working in midfield as Neville mentions, the Uruguayan international is also capable in front of goal.

He scored a memorable goal in the North London Derby against Tottenham a couple of weeks ago, and he followed that up with an impressive overhead kick that proved to be the winner against Huddersfield last Saturday. Gunners fans will be hoping the midfielder maintains this level for the rest of the season.