It’s taken a while but it looks like Gabriel Magalhaes to Arsenal is finally a done deal, albeit without an official announcement.
According to Sky Sports, Arsenal will sign the Lille centre-back for a fee in the region of £27 million.
If and when it’s confirmed, Gabriel will be the Gunners’ second signing of the summer after already welcoming the Brazilian’s compatriot Willian to North London earlier this month.
This is all the more impressive in light of the fact that Head of Football Raul Sanllehi left the club suddenly last week.
Sanllehi had a big role to play in the transfer window and to pull off such a big deal so soon after his exit has to be considered more of a success.
According to The Telegraph, it was Technical Director Edu who proved ‘decisive’ in convincing the 22-year-old to snub Manchester United, Napoli and Everton
And the report adds that the Brazilian will be the one spearheading Arsenal’s transfer activity from here on in, with support from Mikel Arteta and ‘contract specialist’ Huss Fahmy who was originally reported to be taking over from Sanllehi.
Arteta’s side kick off their season with a Community Shield clash against Liverpool at Wembley next Saturday and it’ll be interesting to see who the Spanish coach picks as his centre-back pairing.
Gunners fans are champing at the bit to see William Saliba in action and, assuming Gabriel is signed up by then, the supporters will be dreaming of watching both at the heart of their defence.
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