Arsenal have agreed a £26.4m (€30m) deal to sign the Sampdoria midfielder Lucas Torreira and were discussing personal terms with the Uruguayan’s representatives in Milan on Tuesday.

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The 22-year-old did have a £21.9m (€25m) release clause in his contract, which has another four years to run, but Arsenal offered the extra €5m to beat off competition from Napoli. The fee will be paid over three years. The Premier League club have offered him a five-year deal and are confident that he will sign it.

Torreira arrived in Italy as a striker, described at the time as the new Carlos Tevez because of his combative style, and joined Perugia in 2013. There, however, he was moved into midfield by the coach and 2006 World Cup winner Massimo Oddo.

He gradually grew into his new role and earned a move to Sampdoria in 2016. He has become a key player at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris and is ranked among the best defensive midfielders in Serie A. He has one Uruguay cap and was included in Óscar Tabárez’s World Cup squad for the tournament in Russia this summer.

The Uruguayan is an extremely hard-working player with a good shot and has scored several goals from set-pieces while at Sampdoria. Torreira would become the new Arsenal manager Unai Emery’s second signing after the capture of the former Juventus defender Stephan Lichtsteiner on a free transfer earlier this month.