Borussia Dortmund Officials Reportedly Meet With Sampdoria Star Lucas Torreira's Agent
Pablo Bentancur, the agent of Sampdoria star Lucas Torreira is in Germany to meet with officials from Borussia Dortmund over a potential summer deal for the midfielder.
The German side are willing to meet the €25m release clause required to pry the Uruguayan away from Sampdoria, according to reports from Tuttomercatoweb.
The midfielder had previously been linked with the likes of Arsenal and Napoli but neither side have shown enough concrete interest, which has allowed Dortmund swoop in.
Juventus and Liverpool had also reportedly shown interest, but with Liverpool's recent signing of Fabinho and Juventus seemingly set to sign Emre Can, it is no surprise that Dortmund now lead the race to sign the defensive midfielder.
Dortmund endured a poor Bundesliga campaign finishing 29 points behind Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich. They finished 4th behind Hoffenheim and Schalke and conceded 47 goals - the second most conceded goals in the top six; which could be the reason the club are currently looking to sign a defensive midfielder.
According to WhoScored, Torreira has averaged 2.8 tackles per game as well as two interceptions. Considering that he made 36 appearances in Serie A last season, these are remarkable stats. In comparison, Sokratis Papastathopoulos, arguably Dortmund's best defender, only made 2.6 tackles per game and 1.6 interceptions.
Lucas Torreira didn't put a foot wrong in his substitute appearance and initiated some dangerous moves.
— Warriors of Uruguay (@UruguayanHeroes) June 8, 2018
He immediately became the footballing leader of the midfield. El Maestro has to start him.
I've said it for months, Torreira is the best Uruguayan midfielder. pic.twitter.com/kjFd7u6Oz0
Torreira sat on Uruguay's bench for their recent friendly against Uzbekistan, but is set to travel to Russia for the World Cup. Dortmund would therefore want to wrap up the deal before the tournament starts.