Arsenal have yet to wrap up the transfer deal to bring Gabriel Paulista from his La Liga club Villareal to the Emirates and the Premier League, but everything points to it happening in the next few days. The Brazilian player, his current coach Marcelino and even Arsene Wenger have admitted to the talks going on and that seems to be that, as far as I’m concerned.
The only real problem for me is this work permit thing but I reckon Wenger and his backroom staff must be very confident in order to take things this far. I know I might be jumping the gun, but I assume that Paulista will be a Gunner by the beginning of February and while I did not really know too much about him before, I think he is the perfect signing for us this month.
First of all he is a central defender and we badly need cover in this area, but he is also versatile and has played at both right back and left back with Villareal and his former club in Brazil, Vitoria, so that gives the boss great options. He has the reputation for being fast and powerful as well as good in the air and he is said to be a great reader of the game with the technical ability you would expect from a Brazilian.
Paulista was also voted the best centre back in the Brazilian championship before moving to Spain in 2013 and he made an instant impact for his new club. Paulista has now become their best defender and the major reason for them going 15 games unbeaten. No player has started more games for Villareal this season and the club are up to sixth with only Barcelona and Real Madrid having conceded less.
Also, while Paulista is undoubtedly talented, he is not a big name signing like Hummels and so will not demand to go straight into the staring line-up. So while Koscielny and the BFG keep doing the business, they will keep their places and there should be no disruption to the dressing room.
Add to that the fact he is just 24-years old and still learning and you can see just why Wenger has identified Paulista as the perfect player to boost the Arsenal defence.
Sources in Spain claim the Gunners’ Premier League rivals Manchester United are attempting to hijack Arsene Wenger’s move for the defender, who moved to El Madrigal in 2013.
Red Devils boss Louis van Gaal is said to be a huge admirer of the former Vitoria star, and according to reports, is willing to match any offer made by the Gunners.
dailystar
If anyone swoops in an beats us to him I will be unhappy.
Being aggressive in the transfer window should mean aggressive….
Give dicky law some knuckle dusters….
” whats that gabriel? Oh your considering uniteds offer….one sec”
hehe
Daily Star……….That is all
Agreed, i am sharing it because it was on the “BBC Gossip” page.
sharing “BBC Gossip” page.
Why did i have to clickhere to see you’re comment, it’s true, ive just read it on the news.
yes thats it…thats why Wenger should reveal all potential signings to the fans as requested so that other clubs can join in the competition as well…..
I cannot think that Wenger would let anyone know of his plans re Paulista IF the deal was not already secure in some way, that does not make sense…we will have to wait to see what happens.
i posted it earlier this evening but here it is again:
Interesting comparatives stats between Paulista, winston Reid, Perrin, Koscielny and Mertesacker.
http: //imgur.com/a/nlyoM#0
copy without the 2 ”spaces” between http: and //imgur.
1 “space” sorry
reid is better on 3 measures out of 4.
the stats also show Per for what he’s become.
paulista and Villarreal had 6 clean sheets in the last 9 games.he is also in the top ten for interception in la liga.this guy can be a great player for us for the next 6-8 years.
For once, this sarcasm of urs is unacceptable.
The reason Wenger should make it public is so we as fans will know of a truth we are in for such and such player, and if the deal gets hijacked, Wenger won’t be able to bluntly lie that we were never in for such player.
Also, if Wenger makes his interest public, such player will find it hard to lie to the press or other clubs that he’s never been contacted by us at all.
I don’t know this player but he does sound promising from what I hear.
And so long as there is no longer talk of getting Nastasic from City, I am happy. Last season he was awful and Pellegrini has been trying to push him off on any club willing (and stupid enough) to take the risk. (I hear Schalke are giving him a try on temp loan).
For wenger to talk so candidly about a transfer, one has to imagine that the deal is all signed and sealed, all but the permit.
However, there may be a red herring going on, with wenger knowing full well he might not get the permit and throwing people off the scent of another player.
I wish the ‘other player’ was Schneiderlin 🙂 🙂
How about all time fan fav Mvilla…??
hes deem world class and talented….big strong and fast by many fans here as well….
I would rather have Schneiderlin
Problem is that because of his antics at previous windows we do not trust our Manager. Why is he being so open if he believes that the transfer is just 50/50. Seems Man Utd are sniffing around now. If they are interested then surely they will just romp in and buy. Wenger got 15 mil for Verm if Paulisto is that good why not pay up front rather than haggle and lose out. What do I know,but I hope I am wrong..
Wenger has already signed a Dm for the future and now is about to sign a highly rated Brazilian defender(judging from their national team, he might as well become a regular for his country). That’s two signing that we gunner fan been dying to hear. Sure it’s no hummers, but I’d take this guy over Reid.
Shut up to the fans who are complaining.
I have only seen Gabriel in two complete games; both in which he played left back
Observations:
he gives the winger too much space(like Monreal, must be Spanish thing), and always shows him the outside.
he closes down the space quickly
he interchanges with the fullback or DM quickly; as soon as they chase someone to the outside he drops back in to the fullback position.
he does not bomb forward like a mad man
when he goes forward he has Arsenal style give and go
Did not see him head many balls.
Only Con: not impressed with his jumping ability. Maybe he did not have to in the two games I saw. I could be very very wrong.
Statistically he is comparable to BFG in aerial duels and significantly better than Koscielny so I think it was just the game that you saw and the fact that he was playing at full back. Replying to the author Bob he was not the best defender in Brazil ! He was the best defender in the state of Bahia. There are 27 state championships so 26 other best defenders. BIG DIFFERENCE.
they were the only 2 he played at left back every other game was cb and he was excellent vs athleti madrid
I do not know much about Gabriel but from what I read about him he would probably need some time to develop into the next Koscielny and, certainly, to adapt to the English game. For these reasons he may not be able to help us right away but would be a long term acquisition. And there is the work permit issue… That’s why I would like us to go after Winston Reid who knows the Premiership, would be able to step in whenever required and has been very well schooled by Sam Allardice. Signing both would be probably the best solution but it is not going to happen, so if I had to choose, I would go for the West Ham man.
Why are we not using our strong youth players Hayden, Ajayi? Don’t we have some talent to bring in? Gabriel sounds great, but we need to give youth experience.
I think both Ajayi and Hayden are going on loan or at least 1 will be (Ajayi was linked with a couple premiership clubs). The idea is to give youth experience playing at premiership level BUT we can’t really afford to chuck them in the deep end – better to loan them to get some experience and ease them in. Wenger loves a second half of the season loan for his youth players once he really knows where their development is at.
Because its not Football Manager 2015
Lets know whats going on.. we deserve it. we are fans of Arsenal.
if we dont care, we wont bother.
WE ARE ARSENAL….
GOYG….. COYG!!!!!!!!
Is this guy good enough to come straight in, or one for the future?
Straight in I feel to fight it out with chambers for the spot playing next to kos.