Napoli close to agreeing terms with Arsenal Ligue 1 target

Manchester Evening News claims that Napoli is close to completing the signing of Lille defender and Arsenal target, Gabriel Magalhaes.

The 22-year-old is one of the most sought-after young defenders available in this transfer window, and he has been linked with a move to Arsenal.

His fine form has caught the attention of the Gunners, who have reportedly held talks with him over a move.

The defender’s siblings even followed the Gunners on social media recently, a move that seemed to signify that their brother is joining the Gunners.

However, the report is claiming that Napoli has agreed on personal terms with him as they look to find a replacement for the also sought after Kalidou Koulibaly.

Mikel Arteta will have William Saliba and Pablo Mari to work with next season, but the Spaniard might also sell the likes of Sokratis and Shkodran Mustafi in this transfer window to fund moves for a younger defender like Gabriel.

The Gunners are not the only English team looking to sign the defender with Manchester United, Chelsea and Everton also retaining interest in his signature.

Arteta knows the changes he would like to make to his current squad, but it remains unclear if the Spaniard will have the resources to compete for the signature of Gabriel after landing his other targets.

Tags Gabriel Magalhaes

18 Comments

  1. Our shoddy fan base will be distraught that were gonna miss out on this guy based SOLELY on the fact hes 22, it’s all our ridiculous fans care about.

    1. Agree Rory
      And a lot of them will expect William saliba to go straight into the side and be VVD .
      Already seen fans saying we need this and that player to partner the young lad when in reality he won’t be a first choice straight away seeing he’s just 19 and a new league and team .

      1. Exactly Dan! And If he has even a slightly rocky start they will start slagging him and arteta no doubt

      1. Arteta was seen on the practice field placing Saliba as the left sided CD position so maybe that’s telling on what his plans may be going forward for the young lad

        1. We should go for Pao Torres from Villarreal as his replacement or Jonathan Tah from Leverkusen. I know Arteta is looking for a left footed Cb and Torres fits that bill and was one of the best defenders in Spain this past season. Tah is a physically imposing defender and has some pace which I think our defence lacks and if Arteta is looking to use Saliba in the left then Tah would be a great partner for the slighter framed Saliba.

  2. This is an Arsenal site and the admins should not engage in playing with our mind and intelligence like other sites and media outlets do. It has been reported here that we and manu are the forerunner in getting this player and that we are his preferred choice and now we are going to miss out because he’s now choosen Napoli. How many articles have made it to JA just because of the words like LINK and TARGET. This player might not have been considered at all by us the ATM and now we are missing out on him.

    1. Going by the betting market we was definitely interested as were was 1/5 on favourites but Napoli have obviously stolen a march On us because they maybe will have money to burn by selling their CD to Man City

      1. Koulibaly hasn’t been signed by anyone yet and the club has stated and player that nobody has spoken to them about signing him.

    2. The word on the street is that Napoli had a “gentlemens” agreement with Lille regarding Gabriel, due to a previous sale. Napoli has taken up that option to buy.
      A competent club would have a list of appropriate alternative options. So many times Arsenal misses out due to procrastination. Time will tell.

  3. Get Thomas partley and Coutinho. Beyern needs Leno , let him go and renew Emiliano contract to be first choice. Find a way to get Ozil arrogancy into functioning , sell Matteo, Torerra, Sokratis, mustaphi and laca

  4. Well I hope we have good alternatives lined up. I expected this since we have yet to have any major departures in our defense. We will need to get rid of players before we sign anyone else likely.

  5. Well I will be okay with no CB signings, if we go by Arteta’s vision and structure the squad. Who knows he may turn the yet unproven Mari and Saliba into world beaters( given considerable time). I also think a young DM may not be required if we train Ainsley to play there cause he has matching skill set for that position. Do the partey deal and a creative player(it doesn’t have to be elite players, some championship and premier league clubs have good options too, plus our beloved big eyed, German) and we are ready for the season!

  6. It’s a shame we have players we would like to sell but havent. This free up of wages and fees recieved would make us act faster on the market.

    But i guess every club has these issues…

    For me because of these situations the past of arsenal to move to where we need to get to will be a journey that will take a few years. I hope arteta is around to see the other end of that.
    Atleast he has a trophy to start with. Poch got nil

  7. If the club was serious about revamping the squad it would cut its losses and sell the deadwood for less then value so that they appeal to other teams this way making the sales quicker and freeing up money and space. The club stated we had 100 million for Arteta to spend but had to sell players to fund more deals. We can get Partey deal done for 50 and Gabriel deal for 30 so my guess would be the club low balling every team as they always do hence why we only have Willian in on a free. We need to get those two deals done then I’d be offering Guendouzi to Lyon plus 20 million and go after Hassam Aour for our midfield. Those four signings would certainly change this squad.
    I’d sell if Sokratis, Torriera, Lacazette, Elneny, Chambers and Mikhitarian to free up squad space and use some of that money to buy out Ozils contract and target a couple of young players to bring through.

    1. Agree with your assessment, get our referred targets and then let go of the dead wood. with remaining fund get a quality attacking midfielder

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