Gabriel Paulista looks likely to seal a move to Valencia this summer, but will Arsenal need to buy another defender to replace him? The Brazilian featured in 19 Premier League matches last term, with most of those coming because of injury absences, and he now finds himself with a large number of rivals for a starting place.
Shkodran Mustafi, Laurent Koscielny, Nacho Monreal and Rob Holding are expected to share the three starting places primarily, while Calum Chambers, Maitland-Niles and Mohamed Elneny will provide back-up for those places. Gabriel would likely have been in the second group of players, but now looks set to leave the club.
Valencia have been on the lookout for a central defender following Elaquim Mangala’s return to Manchester City, and are believed to be able to sign Gabriel for a £10 Million fee.
Los Che have already admitted to holding an interest in our defender, with his knowledge of La Liga and ability to speak Spanish named as important to them, and depending on whether the player is willing to join the club, a deal looks highly probable.
Arsenal are also looking to offload Mathieu Debuchy this summer, while Calum Chambers and Kieran Gibbs have also been linked with an exit. These departures would leave us with six senior options for the three centre-back roles, while Krystian Bielik would likely be next in line for action should we fail to add to our numbers.
Would we need more options at the back after selling Gabriel? Would his departure mean Chambers will stay?
Pat J
Even with three at the back, we’ve plenty of options after Gabriel:
Koscielny
Mustafi
Holding
Chambers
Mertesacker
Monreal has done well at LCB, and Kolasinac can play there as well.
I think the question is more about the quality, rather than the quantity.
Exactly, and I like Chambers more than Gabriel. Monreal/Kolasinac both are LBs or LWBs, so using them both in matches might run us thin once in a while, but then we can play with 4 at the back and play just one of them in few matches in Europe. Niles can play at the back too.
Gibbs is still around too, till he is sold. If we dont have new arrivals, and Gibbs stays(I hope Debuchy,Lucas go for sure and Akpom gets loan move), he will get FA Cup minutes
I would rather keep gibbs than Gabriel
Disagree
In a 3 gabs is good
Gibbs still thinks he’s Gareth Bale
When he crosses the ball.
People in the stands take shelter
I think Arsenal should offer Gabriele & Chambers + $25m to Southampton for Van Dijk.
I suggest that would help the quality issue.
Still think Arsenal should sell (or give away) Ospina, and try to buy Butland from Stoke.
Butland will only become more expensive. Maybe we could do another swap – Ospina + $20m
Thoughts anyone
Very wishful thinking in that Chambers + Gabriel equals anywhere near the potential 50+ extra mil that other clubs seem to be willing to pay for him. Especially considering both are squad players at best for us…
However, after the whole tapping up thing I think Southampton would be much more willing deal with us. Chambers or Gibbs could definitely be targets for them. But if they went the other way I think we’d still have to cough up 45mil+ as well.
OT the ones who always think that a player has to be replaced like for like, i think that isn’t true one can also alter the formation
for example if we sell AS, there isnt just the option of buying a world-class attacker, IMO the best choice would be to buy a worldclass CM, because goal-scoring was never a problem for us and no not to replace one of our CM’s and play Xhaka-Seri, like the media suggests etc. but to add one CM to the 11 because i think we cant boss the midfield as strong with just 2 CM, i would prefer a formation of 3-5-1-1 or go back to 433/4321 with 3 real CM’s and replacing AS with a teamplayer who can unlock the defence to spread the goals between everyone
Cech
Mustafi Kos Monreal
Ox Rambo New CM Xhaka Kolasinac
Özil
Laca
mm i dont think we would not have goal-scoring problems without alexis…more if ur attaking midfielder is a great passer but an awefull goalscorer. In the team you mention the only ones u could trust a goal is laca and ramsey…not so good to be a great team, forget de EPL
Ot
Someone earlier was talking about the captaincy for the upcoming with bfg and kos out they said hopefully not walcott I agree.
I don’t know what his English is like yet and although he’s still a relative Newby I’d give xhaka.
He seems to be more and more conformable and commanding everytime I see him.
He’s middle of the park, seems vocal, can see other players look to him,(already hit it off with kolasinac) and has som4 grit and fight to him. When things happen he’s often the first one to communicate wih the ref and it seems to come natural to him.
I wonder why someone’s asking about the captaincy. Is Cech suspended too?
Per > Kos > Cazorla >Cech >Walcott/Gibbs
I’d give it to Cech. I’d actually hope he would be more of a leader when he came. Still time. Walcott should never be an option, agree.
It’s easier said than done. However, a Gaby exit from Arsenal this summer but not for £10m but at least for £15m to Valencia or to which ever club, could guarantee Calun Chambers a stay at Arsenal for cover and options in Arsenal season campaign next season. The stay of Chambers at Arsenal is what we the Gooners want to see happen next season and not his leaving.
If Gabriel Paulista does leave Arsenal this summer due to his likely becoming surplus to requirements at Arsenal which himself might have sensed, apart of the 4 specialist defenders of: Koscielny, Monreal, Mustafi and holding who have been regularly manning the Arsenal back three line of recent, other centre backs like Mertersacker & Chambers, and defensive wingbacks of Bellerin, Kolasinac, and the defensive midfielders of Elneny & Niles, can all also play as centrebacks in a back three or back four denfese-line whenever the need arised. Therefore, with ten potential defenders in the Gunners rank and file already this summer, if Gaby is sold this window, I suppose his defensive services at Arsenal will not be missed.
If we sell Gabriel we are left with Koscielny, Mertesacker, Monreal, Holding, Mustafi, Kolasinac who can all play at the back 3. I don’t think CB is a priority position right now. It’s obvious we are short in midfield, especially in terms of quality. Ramsey and Elneny are our own real options next to Xhaka and neither really make you shake in your boots, and one is injury prone. I don’t even consider Wilshere an option at this point.
Yes we would definitely need a replacement for Gabriel and our best bet would be Virgil Van Dijk. With our new formation we will need at least 6. I really don’t think Wenger rates Chambers either as Holding is ahead of him even when Chambers is available, think he’s almost out the door and some might not agree. Mertesacker is in his final year as a professional footballer before becoming a full time coach, even though he’s the captain he will probably be used only when needed or for rotation/injury purposes. Koscielny has a reoccurring Achilles problem on top of already missing the first 2 games and he isn’t exactly young either in football terms. In an ideal world our CB’s would be:
Mertesacker
Koscielny
Holding
Monreal
Mustafi
+ Van Dijk
If it came down to it even Kolasinac and Elneny.
of course im open to being corrected here but isn’t Gabriel further in the scheme of things by that i mean further up in pecking order than Holding? Personally, i believe GP is in line for increase in his wage rather than be sold off to valencia. im not sure this brazil international is to be shown the door just yet – going from arsenal to valencia, really?? i’m having none of it.
I’d personally be livid if we gave Gabs a new contract.. his decision making and duels are just problematic. His good spell last season was good, but still, his errors lead to great opposition chances.
I think you are correct in the pecking order last season.. However Holding is young and it was his first season in the prem. He now has F.A. Cup final experience and a few massive games under his belt. As far as I’m concerned he has won his first-team place and if Gabriel is still with us this coming season he should have to fight to win his place back and in no way be given it back.
With the players on the verge of being sold or shown the door, It just goes to show how bad Wenger’s transfer business actually was in previous years!
On top of all that, there’s talk of PSG offering £80 million for Sanchez and Chelsea readying a bid of £25 million for the Ox. It will be interesting to see how the Board will react IF & when that PSG offer lands on their table. All the talk of Sanchez staying put, has definitely gone to Wenger’s plan in bumping up the player’s valuation.
it really doesn’t mate…
Debuchy – replaced by our youth product who Barcelona are trying to pry from us.
Gibbs – replaced by Nacho who we paid what..? 8mil for? Also picked up Kola on a free so we’ve spent barely anything to make him surplus to requirements.
CB’s? – Arguments could definitely be made for Chambers being a waste of money. I’ve also never been a fan of Gabriel. But still, we have Holding and Bielik coming through the ranks with Mustafi entering his second season. All of which I rate much more highly. There’s rumours of 10mil for gabs and suitors for Chambers. So we’re much stronger at CB with the potential transfer fees a 20mil upgrade.
Perez- first-team production has been good in terms of minutes and goal return. Had an injury, then we switched to a back three pushing him further down the pecking order. Rumours of unrest at first-team chances and attitude problems. Could make a loss of 5-8mil on him but a huge upgrade with laca. Should we have went for a better option last season? Definitely.. But still, a few very important goals. Hardly a flop.
Joel Campbell – should have cashed in after World Cup hype.. but then again there would have been outrage.. ahh well. He cost us <2mil when he was an 18y.o international…
CMs – jury is still out IMO. If our bloated squad prevents us from strengthening here I'll be more than annoyed. The blatantly obvious weak spot in our squad. Xhaka, a question mark Ramsey then a lot of squad quality players.
But still… all in all the positions we're looking to offload we've strengthened with shrewd business and/or solutions within our youth. The players we're looking to offload have all had their place at some point in time and cost us barely anything in terms of transfer fees
Yes of course arsenal need Southampton defender Van Djik
Whether Or Not We Sell Gabriel, We Need A CB. Maybe Vandijk Or Sanchez Of Ajax. I Think We’ll Be Better Prepared With Mustafi-Vandijk/Sanchez-Koscielny Than Any Other Partnership. Other Options Means We’re Settling For Less Yet Again.