Man Utd In Lasp Gasp Attempt To Hijack Arsenal’s €20m Deal

With the January transfer in full swing, managers are strengthening their squads ahead of the second half of the season, so we’ll bring you all the latest news and gossip. Today, could Man Utd hijack Arsenal’s move for Gabriel Paulista…

Manchester United are ready to launch a last gap attempt to hijack Arsenal’s deal to sign €20m-rated Villarreal defender Gabriel Paulista, according to reports.

The Gunners are in the market for another centre-back and widespread reports in recent weeks have claimed the North Londoners have been trying to thrash out a deal for Brazilian ace Gabriel.

It’s believed Arsenal’s opening offer was €6.5m (£5m) plus Joel Campbell on loan for the rest of the season but Villarreal knocked it back and insisted they wouldn’t sell for anything less that Gabriel’s €20m (£15m) release fee.

Arsene Wenger admitted at his press conference on Thursday that talks are on-going and he’s prepared to pay what it takes to get a deal over the line before the transfer window slams shut:

“Talks are progressing well. There is no need to say much more at this stage.

“Talks are slowly progressing but there is a chance we can strike a deal.

“We want the player and don’t necessarily want to do it in the summer – we have to try and sort it out now.

“We are ready to pay the price for a player if he is good enough. If the price is right, we will pay.” Wenger is quoted as saying by the Star

However, there could yet be a late twist in the tail as the Daily Star are citing reports coming out of Spain that claim Manchester United are set to launch a late hijack attempt to derail Arsenal’s deal.

Louis van Gaal is also understood to be in the market for another centre-back after seeing his options depleted by injury during the first half of the season and it appears the Dutchman is keen on luring Gabriel to Old Trafford as the newspaper claims that he is a huge admirer of the 24-year-old and is prepared to match any offer made by the Gunners.

It would certainly be a huge blow to Arsenal if United were to make their interest official at this late stage but they’re going to have to move soon if they want to stand a chance of stealing the deal as it looks like the North Londoners proposed transfer is well down the line.

READ MORE –> Arsenal transfer news | Man Utd transfer news

Wenger rarely speaks to the press about transfer targets so the Frenchman’s openness to the media yesterday has led many to believe the deal for Gabriel may be a lot closer than he’s letting on.

The major stumbling block over any deal is gaining a work permit as Gabriel is yet to earn a single cap for Brazil, so whoever ends up winning the race for his signature is still likely to face a battle to actually bring the defender to England.