Arsenal’s director Edu has opened up on informing Gabriel Magalhaes that he is being called up to the senior Brazilian national team.
The Arsenal defender has been one of their best players in this campaign and he was in fine form prior to the last international window.
That earned him a call-up to the senior Brazil national team and Edu was first informed about the decision.
Although Gabriel was playing well in arguably the hardest league in the world, he also knows his country doesn’t lack talent in any position on the pitch.
But the Brazilian federation had seen enough of him and called him up for action.
Edu spoke to Arsenal’s official website about the moments leading up to Gabriel being informed of the development, and of how delighted the defender was.
“As a Brazilian I was so pleased to see Gabriel Magalhaes join the national team for the first time,” Edu said.
“For every Brazilian it’s a dream to wear the yellow shirt, it’s difficult to describe.
“A few days before the games, I received a phone call from the Brazil federation, telling me they were going to select him. I was so happy for him, because I know what it means to him.
“So what I did was first of all call Mikel, explain it to him and say that it would be nice for him to call Gabi to give him the news. He did that and within five minutes Gabi called me – so excited! It was so brilliant to hear his reaction, what it meant to him.
“Then I called his father, who’s back in Brazil, and explained it to him and honestly he was so happy he was almost in tears.”
Just Arsenal Opinion
It is good to see Arsenal’s players get international recognition at the highest level.
Gabriel has been one of our standout performers and his transfer from Lille shows Mikel Arteta knows how to sign a player that fits his system.
The Spaniard will add more defenders to his squad as he continues to rebuild it, and Gabriel will hope he remains the first choice at the Emirates for the next few years.
