Gabriel Magalhaes is set to arrive in London today to finalise his £27m move to Arsenal with the Lille defender ready to pen a five-year contract worth £80,000-a-week, according to The Times.
Gunners boss Mikel Arteta has been on the look-out for a left-sided centre-back this summer as he looks to reshape his leaky defence following another disappointing Premier League campaign last season.
Gabriel has been widely touted as Arteta’s prime target and Arsenal emerged as favourites to sign the Brazilian U20 international despite reported interest from the likes of Napoli and Manchester United.
It looks like a transfer is now on the verge of completion as The Times claim that Gabriel is due to fly-in to London today to finalise his move to Arsenal after a £27m deal was agreed with Lille.
The newspaper says Gabriel will sign a five-year contract worth £80,000-a-week and has already completed his medical in France last week so Arsenal are expected to make a formal announcement over the next few days.
The 22-year-old will have to spend 14 days in quarantine when he arrives in the UK due to government guidelines which will mean the defender won’t be able to start pre-season training with his new team mates until next month.
So it looks like Gabriel is set to become Arsenal’s second major signing of the summer following the arrival of Willian on a free transfer as Arteta continues to overhaul the squad he inherited from Unai Emery.
Gabriel will be an exciting addition to the Arsenal ranks as he’s been one of the best defenders in French football over the past 18 months and was named in the L’Equipe Team of the Season last year.
The South American put in a string of impressive performances to help Lille finish fourth and qualify for the Europa League and he’s now primed to line-up alongside William Saliba in a new-look defence at Arsenal next season.
In order to make room for Gabriel’s arrival, Sokratis could be sold with a move to Italy being mooted while Rob Holding is also being linked with a move away from the club this summer.
There could be more positive news for the Gunners as The Times says Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is expected to finally sign his new big-money contract this week which will be a huge boost for Arteta.
