Tottenham defender Emerson Royal has posted on Instagram his congratulations to Arsenal’s Gabriel Magalhães after he earned his first Brazil call-up.
On Monday, it was announced that the £23 million Arsenal player (BBC Sport) has been called up for Brazil after his fine form on the domestic stage.
When Gabriel posted his delight on Instagram, at that maiden call, Tottenham’s right-back, Emerson, posted ‘you deserve it’ in the comments section.
After Arsenal’s early struggles this season, which Gabriel wasn’t part of because he was injured, he, alongside his new defensive partner in crime Ben White, they have helped transform the club’s defence and form.
Since losing their opening three matches, Mikel Arteta’s side have secured six clean sheets in all competitions and remained unbeaten during that period.
They are in the quarter-finals of the League Cup and they are sitting fifth in the Premier League table – not so long ago, they were rock-bottom of the table.
Whilst Gabriel deserves his call, some Arsenal fans would question why White isn’t also repping the colours of his country.
Even though some doubted the ball-playing centre-back when he first made his big-money move to North London, he is proving a lot of people wrong and is one of the form defenders in the league.
But Gareth Southgate opted to pick the out-of-sorts duo Harry Maguire and Tyrone Mings for the Three Lions, alongside John Stones, who hasn’t played as much this term and the inconsistent Conor Coady.
It seems as though the above players’ reputations are seeing them selected, and not their form, because some of them have been well below-par for several weeks.
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