Mikel Arteta is confident Arsenal will close-out a deal to sign Gabriel Magalhaes soon and tie star striker Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang down to a new contract, according to Goal.
Arteta is looking to strengthen his defensive options this summer after Arsenal’s leaky defence cost them once again last season and Gabriel has been strongly linked with a move to the Emirates in recent weeks.
The Times reported earlier this week that the 22-year-old centre-back flew-in to London on Monday to undergo his medical and sign a five-year deal with the Gunners worth around £80,000-a-week after a £27m deal was agreed with Lille.
The Sun then claimed that Gabriel had passed his medical and the players agent, Guilherme Miranda, told journalist Freddie Paxton that his client had turned down more lucrative offers to join Arsenal.
Arteta was quizzed about the proposed deal at his pre-match press conference on Thursday ahead of Arsenal’s Community Shield clash with Liverpool this weekend and the Gunners boss said he is ‘positive’ they’ll get the deal over the line soon.
Arteta is quoted as saying by Goal:
“Regarding Gabriel we can’t announce anything yet. The deal is not finalised. You all know that he is a player that we have followed for a long time and hopefully we can get it done.
“Everything is OK when both parties sign, the club and the player agrees the terms and he goes through the medical.
“Sometimes in the final stages it is not as easy as it looks but, again, we are pretty positive that we can do it.”
“When we get it, I will be very pleased. He’s a player we followed and were very determined that he was the right profile for us to improve our squad. If we are able to finalise it we will be delighted.
“We are trying to finalise the deal, that’s what I can tell you at the moment.”
Arsenal are also working hard trying to secure the long-term future of captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang as the striker has just one year remaining on his current contract and is yet to sign an extension.
Negotiations have been on-going for weeks and Goal suggests that Aubameyang has agreed a new three-year extension to his current deal but there has been no official news out of the club as yet.
Arteta was also asked for an update on Aubameyang at his press conference today and once again he said he’s ‘confident’ the club will get an agreement in place with the 31-year-old hitman following positive talks.
Arteta is quoted as saying by Goal:
“I keep being positive. We’ve had some really good talks with him and his agent and I am pretty confident we will find an agreement soon. That’s my feeling.”
It would be a huge boost for Arsenal to tie Aubameyang down to a new deal as he’s virtually carried the North Londoners over the past two years and scored 29 goals last season – including a brace in the FA Cup final win over Chelsea.
If Arteta can also get a deal for Gabriel over the line and add at least one central midfielder, then Arsenal will have a strong squad heading into the new campaign as they look to get back into the top four.
