Lille centre-back Gabriel Magalhaes is getting closer to a move to Arsenal, according to various reports.
Various reports and rumours floating around on Sunday suggest Gabriel Magalhaes is closing in on a summer move to Arsenal.
Arseblog posted on Sunday morning that a “left-footed central defender is close to signing”, without naming names. Football.London wrote that they understand that Arsenal have a keen interest in Gabriel. Goal also confirmed the interest in the central defender last week.
Le10Sport then reported that Arsenal and Napoli both submitted €30m offers for Gabriel, which Lille accepted, and it’s just a matter of the player picking his next club.
Jason Burt from the Telegraph says that Gabriel has picked Arsenal:
Arsenal are closing in on the signing of Gabriel Magalhaes
They have agreed a deal with the player and this comes as a blow to Napoli who believed they were in pole to sign him
— Link Up Arsenal (@LinkUpArsenal) August 16, 2020
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We can’t start calling it a done deal just yet, however.
Manchester United have also been in the race for the last few weeks and could make a last-ditch effort to steal the transfer away.
But the rumours are growing that Gabriel is now close.
Personally, I’m a big fan of this move.
Gabriel is strong in the air, a great tackler and left-footed, which really helps his case. At 22, he still has a long future in football ahead of him, so he’s a potential long-term partner to William Saliba.
It’s the kind of signing that could immediately improve the starting lineup whilst also boosting Arsenal’s long-term options. If it helps convince one or two fringe centre-backs in the squad to move on, that’s a bonus.
Arsenal will hope the Brazilian connection to technical director Edu will help get the move over the line ahead of the competitors now.