Former Arsenal defender Gabriel Paulista has joined Spanish giants Atletico Madrid from Valencia six years after the Premier League challengers sold the Brazilian for £10 million.
After Donyell Malen and Serge Gnabry, now Bundesliga buddies with Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich respectively – and following Yunus Musah’s move to AC Milan over the summer – Gabriel Paulista is the latest former Arsenal player who now finds himself at one of Europe’s A-list clubs after walking away from the Emirates.
Former Arsenal man joins Spanish giants
Arsenal accepted a £10 million bid from Valencia back in 2017, Gabriel playing fewer than 50 Premier League games in two-and-a-half years under Arsene Wenger.
As of today, he is now an Atletico player, joining Diego Simeone’s team with a Madrid derby, a Copa del Rey semi-final and a Champions League knockout-stage clash with Inter Milan on the horizon.
Talk about being thrown in at the deep end…
“It is impossible to think twice (when a club like Atletico comes calling),” Gabriel tells Los Colchoneros’ official website. “(This move gives me) an incredible feeling.”
“This shirt is very heavy. When an offer comes from a big club in Europe… It has been quite a source of pride for me, to be able to awaken the interest of big teams.
“I will try to continue maintaining what I have been doing so far this season, and improve what I have to improve. The desire to win will not be lacking. I always like to fight, help my team-mates and the club.”
‘Incredible’
That ‘fight’ is perhaps what Arsenal fans will remember most from Gabriel’s time at the Emirates Stadium. Always passionate yet verging on reckless at times, the former Villarreal man was sent off after a clash with Diego Costa during a famously ferocious clash between Wenger’s Arsenal and Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea back in 2015, a game in which the eternal bad feeling between the two managers finally boiled over.
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