Gabriel Magalhaes has been confirmed as joining Arsenal, following a long-drawn out saga which had raised doubts over our capture.
The Brazilian was firmly expected to move to the Emirates three weeks ago, with reports claiming that Arsenal were ahead of Napoli of the two clubs who had agreed a deal with Lille.
It later emerged that Manchester United had come in to try and beat us to his signature, but their attempt to gazump our wage offer was baulked by Gabriel who had his heart set on joining Mikel Arteta in North London following talks with him and Director of Football Edu.
Those two key men have told Arsenal FC their reasoning for signing the 22 year-old.
Technical director Edu said: “We are delighted to have signed Gabriel. He is a player we have been studying for a while and he was in demand from many clubs, so we are proud to have agreed and completed this transfer with Lille and the player. Gabriel is a player of high quality and Mikel and his coaches are looking forward to integrating him into the club.”
Mikel Arteta said: “We welcome Gabriel to Arsenal. He has many qualities which will make us stronger as a defensive unit and as a team. He has proved with Lille that he is a defender with many outstanding attributes and we are looking forward to watching him grow as an Arsenal player.”
Gabriel will now take on the number six shirt going into the new season, with his shirt now found in the official Arsenal shop.
Will our new signing prove to be our shrewdest buy of the summer?
Patrick
