Arsenal manager, Unai Emery has explained why he decided to wait for long before starting Lucas Torreira and Bernd Leno, who have impressed enormously this season.
The duo were the biggest arrivals of the summer for the club, with Torreira arriving in a £26.5million deal from Sampdoria and Leno joining for a few million less from Bayer Leverkusen.
However, the Uruguayan did not start a Premier League match until the sixth game of the season, despite routinely impressing off the bench, while Leno had to wait for Petr Cech to get injured.
But Emery has now explained that he wanted to respect the hierarchies in the squad rather than throwing his own recruits straight in.
When asked why he took so long to start the pair, Emery told Marca, “Because you have to respect hierarchies.
“If Leno comes as a signing, but Cech is doing well, we have to respect him. Petr was first.
“And the same happened with Guendouzi and Torreira, who arrived later. I kept the first one, which I love, although now I do not play, and yes Lucas.”
Torreira has now secured his place in the starting XI, starting the last seven Premier League matches in a row as Arsenal have racked up a 16-game unbeaten streak in all competitions.
Likewise, Leno appears to have claimed the No.1 shirt at Arsenal despite Cech’s return from injury and has made a number of important saves as well as used his feet to show passing ability.
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