It’s now a case of ‘when’ not ‘if’ Lucas Torreira will join Arsenal, so what shirt number will the midfielder get when he arrives?

UPDATE 10.07.18: He’s got the number 11. Given he’s a defensive midfielder and this is traditionally a winger’s number, you can forgive me for not guessing correctly.

https://twitter.com/the_cannon/status/1016685136140750849

https://twitter.com/charles_watts/status/1016685687595323392

The number four would have been perfect, but for some reason, we decided to give that to Mohamed Elneny While I love the Egyptian, he is a squad player and the 4 should have been held for a first-team regular – like Torreira.

The ‘4’ is certainly important to the Uruguayan. All of Torreira’s shirt numbers have included it.

At Pescara Primavera as a youngster and then with their seniors, he wore 34, a number he took at Sampdoria as well.

With the Uruguay team, he wears 14.

4 at Arsenal, as we just discussed is not available.

Neither is 14, Thierry Henry and Theo Walcott’s old number now adorns Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang’s back.

34, however, was available after we sold Francis Coquelin to Valencia but Granit Xhaka has now taken that, moving from 29 to 34, his old number at Basel and Monchengladbach, for the new season.

It seems like Torreira will have to get a brand new number, so what’s available?

A quick look at what’s available at Arsenal with a ‘4’ in it and you have to go to ’24’ before you find a free shirt.

The next one after that is 44.

24 is, obviously, the lower number but if ‘4’ is so important to Torreira and ’24’ means nothing to him, it’s not beyond the realms that he might opt for ’44’ instead.

If you’re in any doubt that he’s coming, speaking to the press in the last few days, the 22-year-old said, “I would’ve been very happy to fly back with my teammates, but this is such a big opportunity and I can’t waste it.

“It was the same when leaving Uruguay at a young age to play in Italy, as I knew this was the opportunity of a lifetime to progress as a person and help my family.

“I saw the sacrifices my father made. I was away from home a long time and couldn’t even drink mate with my Mum. I’ll return to Uruguay soon enough and salute everyone.”

Available numbers: