Wenger Confirms New Signing To Be Completed On Monday, Work Permit Already Agreed

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has confirmed the club expect to complete the signing of Gabriel Paulista from Villarreal on Monday.

After weeks of speculation, Villarreal announced on Saturday night that they’d agreed a deal ‘in principal’ with Arsenal over the sale of Gabriel.

No fee has been disclosed but reports suggest it’s in the region of £11m, which if almost £4m below the players buy-out clause, but we’ve sweetened the deal by allowing the La Liga side to have Joel Campbell on loan for the rest of the season.

Wenger has now confirmed that we are ‘very, very close’ to completing the signing and the deal should be wrapped up on Monday, while the boss also says Gabriel has all the attributes needed to be a top defender.

When quizzed about reports suggesting we were on the verge of signing Gabriel after our 3-2 win over Brighton this evening, Arsene told reporters:

“They are accurate, it’s very very very close. It should be done I think tomorrow.”

“[He is] a player who’s 24 years old, good size, good pace and a good defender. He plays for only one year in Europe so maybe there are some things to work on but the potential is there.”

The Brazilian centre back has yet to earn a single cap for his nation, so there have been question marks over whether he’ll be granted a work permit to play in England.

However, when asked about the visa situation, Wenger seemed to suggest a work permit has already to sorted. He continued:

“We will be alright on that front.”

Gabriel is expected to arrive in London on Monday to undergo his medical and sign his contract, so as long as there are no late hiccups, we should have our second January signing sealed tomorrow.

The defender follows Polish youngster Krystian Bielik in arriving at the Emirates this month after the teenage midfielder joined the club from Legia Warsaw.

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With the addition of Gabriel, we’ll finally have some depth in defence and we certainly need it judging on how poorly we were at the back against Brighton this afternoon!