Arsenal increased their offer to Gabriel Magalhaes on Friday night to try and close the signing, with the board now confident about the move.

Lille's Brazilian defender Gabriel dos Santos Magalhaes (R) fights for the ball with Montpellier's French forward Gaetan Laborde during the French L1 football match between Lille OSC (LOSC) and Montpellier Herault Sport Club (MHSC) at the Pierre Mauroy Stadium in Villeneuve-d'Ascq, on December 13, 2019. (Photo by FRANCOIS LO PRESTI / AFP) (Photo by FRANCOIS LO PRESTI/AFP via Getty Images)
Lille defender Gabriel dos Santos Magalhaes (R) fights for the ball with Gaetan Laborde on December 13, 2019. (Photo by FRANCOIS LO PRESTI/AFP via Getty Images)

Fabrizio Romano reports that Arsenal increased their bid to Gabriel Magalhaes last night, in an attempt to complete the signing. They’re trying to push it through whilst Napoli are stuck waiting on the situation with Koulibaly and Manchester United aren’t in contact with Lille yet.

At this point, Arsenal are feeling confident about getting the deal over the line.

Francesco Porzio reports that if United don’t increase their offer in a few hours, Gabriel will choose Arsenal. Di Marzio write that Arsenal are offering €26m plus €4m bonuses, and the player could close the deal this morning.

Previous reports suggest Gabriel already completed his Arsenal medical. It’s just a matter of signing off on the transfer.

We still have a rather nervous wait for a final decision. There are a lot of ‘ifs’ in the reports on Gabriel, particularly when it comes to United raising their offer or Napoli finalising the sale of Koulibaly. Either of those things could lead to trouble.

The good news is that Arsenal are being proactive and trying to close the deal as soon as possible. If nothing else, we want to get Gabriel to the U.K. and quarantining sooner rather than later, given the current restrictions on entering the country from France.

Fingers crossed for some more positive updates later today!