Mikel Arteta has admitted that Arsenal defender Gabriel Magalhaes is a little bit rusty after making his return on Saturday.
The 23-year-old Brazilian missed over a month of first-team action for the Gunners after testing positive for the coronavirus.
But Gabriel made his comeback in yesterday’s FA Cup trip to Southampton, though it ended in a 1-0 defeat for Arsenal.
And it was the former Lille centre-back, a £27 million summer signing, who did the damage when he deflected a Kyle Walker-Peters cross into his own net during the first half.
Although Arteta says that the South American has been ‘so good’ since arriving in North London, the Spaniard has admitted to Football London that Gabriel – who also spent a few weeks out of training for obvious reasons – isn’t quite as sharp as he needs to be.
He said when asked if the player was ‘rusty’: “Maybe. He hasn’t played enough minutes in the last month or so since he had the COVID. He had to stay at home, he hasn’t trained as much as we would like him to. It’s a player that has done so well since he’s joined us.”
The good news here is that Gabriel wasn’t awful by any means and if that was him when he’s rusty, Arsenal fans can expect him to get back to his best in the very near future.
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