Arsenal are hoping to beat Manchester United to the signing of Gabriel Magalhaes after submitting a formal £22m bid for the Lille centre-back, according to ESPN.
Gabriel has developed into one of the most highly-rated defenders in French football since joining Lille in 2017 and he put-in a number of dominant displays at the back to help his club secure Europa League qualification last season.
The 22-year-old’s potential has alerted several clubs throughout Europe with ESPN claiming that Napoli and Everton have been chasing the South American while Manchester United have also expressed an interest in signing the player.
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is in the market for a left-footed centre-back to play alongside Harry Maguire next season and Gabriel has been identified as a target but it’s not clear whether Man Utd have formalised their interest at this stage.
Arsenal have also been strongly linked with the Brazilian recently as Mikel Arteta looks to tighten up his leaky defence and the Daily Star reported last week that the Gunners were in pole position to land Gabriel.
It appears the Gunners have now stolen a march on the likes of Man Utd and Everton as ESPN claim today the Gunners are hopeful of wrapping-up a move for Gabriel after submitting a formal £22m with Lille.
The report suggests that the player will finalise his future within the next week and it looks increasingly likely he’ll end up at the Emirates as French outlet La Voix Du Nord reported earlier this month that Gabriel has already decided he wants to join Arsenal.
Arteta has already snapped-up winger Willian on a free transfer but he knows he needs to tighten-up his defence if Arsenal are to break into the top four again as they were poor at the back once again last season.
William Saliba has arrived from Saint-Etienne while Pablo Mari has made his loan from Flamengo permanent but Shkodran Mustafi, Sokratis, David Luiz and Rob Holding have all been far too inconsistent so Arsenal need another top class centre-back.
There is still time for Manchester United to try and hijack the deal but for now it looks like Arsenal are closing-in on the signing of Gabriel and he would be an exciting addition to Arteta’s squad if they can get it over the line.
