How many centre-halves do Arsenal need to sign this summer?
Mikel Arteta’s options at centre-back in 2020-21 have already been increased following the arrival of William Saliba from St Etienne.
Of course, the likes of David Luiz, Pablo Mari, Sokratis Papastathopoulos, Shkodran Mustafi, Rob Holding and Calum Chambers remain on Arsenal’s books.
Yet, on Thursday morning, Italian reporter Fabrizio Romano has indicated that the Gunners are closing in on Lille’s Gabriel Magalhaes.
Manchester United are also in the race to sign the 22-year-old Brazilian.
Gabriel Magalhães: Arsenal are in the race and have started talks with Lille. Napoli still interested but not moving yet because it’ll depend by Koulibaly future. Manchester United just had contacts with his agents but no talks with Lille atm. Game on. #AFC #MUFC #Napoli
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 6, 2020
Fabrizio Romano revealed the following key points on the race to sign Gabriel Magalhaes.
– Arsenal have started official talks with Lille about signing their defender. Interestingly, Arsenal don’t seem to have presented Lille with an actual offer yet.
Although, other reports from France claim that Arsenal are willing to pay 32 million euros to Lille for Gabriel.
EXCLU‼️‼️ Arsenal devrait offrir au LOSC un jolie chèque de 32M€ pour s’attacher les services de l’international Brésilien ‼️ pic.twitter.com/damh7yWuBE
— _ (@NicoVdll) August 4, 2020
– Man United, meanwhile, have begun talks with Gabriel Magalhaes’s agents. Yet, Man United aren’t in talks with Lille, in a sign that they are behind Arsenal in the bidding war right now.
– Challenging Arsenal and Man United, Napoli are also in the race to land Gabriel Magalhaes. However, Napoli seem to be in third place, as the Italians may only make a move for the Brazilian if they sell Kalidou Koulibaly.
Some Arsenal fans believe that Gabriel Magalhaes has already indicated that he’s moving to the Emirates Stadium from Lille.
Gabriel Magalhaes appears to have engaged with a couple of Arsenal-centric social media accounts in recent days.
Images: Lille defender Gabriel Magalhães viewing our story on Instagram suggesting a move to Arsenal.
Be sure to follow us on Instagram: https://t.co/VDmOKy5Wou or search ‘afc_stuff’ on Instagram.#afc pic.twitter.com/o3ZgrXt8Mf
— afcstuff (@afcstuff) August 5, 2020
Gabriel Magalhães has just started to follow an @Arsenal fan account! pic.twitter.com/2m2U9P7Wgz
— Eduardo Hagn (@EduardoHagn) August 5, 2020
Moreover, Gabriel recently appeared on an Instagram live video, and one Arsenal fan asked him directly if he’s joining the Gunners.
The Arsenal fan told Gabriel to touch his hat if he’s joining the north London side.
Not only did Gabriel read the message out loud, but he also grabbed his hat.
An Arsenal fan on Lille defender Gabriel Magalhães’ Instagram Live tonight: “Touch your hat if you are joining Arsenal”
Gabriel Magalhães:
[@MattB5_] #afc pic.twitter.com/siZiuwrTUb
— afcstuff (@afcstuff) August 5, 2020
Gabriel, a 22-year-old central-defender, has established himself as one of European football’s most highly-regarded young stoppers over the last couple of seasons.
On the back of a series of loan spells away from Lille, the Brazilian was finally handed the chance to impress as part of the first-team setup at the Stade Pierre Mauroy last season.
And this is an opportunity which Gabriel has since gone on to grasp with both hands.
The gifted stopper’s standout showings at the heart of Lille’s backline over the second-half of the campaign eventually resulted in his permanent introduction to Christophe Galtier’s starting XI from the get-go in 2019/20.
Before the season was curtailed by the COVID-19 outbreak, Gabriel had earned starts in 23 of his side’s 28 Ligue 1 outings, along with all 6 of Les Dogues’ Champions League fixtures.
Willian seems set to move from Chelsea to Arsenal before the start of the new Premier League season.
In a short update from Fabrizio Romano, who has previously confirmed that Willian rejected Chelsea’s latest contract offer, followers are told:
Arsenal are still pushing to sign Willian as a free agent. Talks on with the player and his agents about salary.
Arsenal are still pushing to sign Willian as a free agent. Talks on with the player and his agents about salary. Philippe Coutinho has been offered days ago but there’s nothing advanced atm. ⚪️ #AFC #transfers https://t.co/hgNJBCwyRV
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) August 6, 2020
Further, the Times report that Arsenal are “very close to signing Willian”.
Should Willian move to the Emirates Stadium, the 31-year-old has been tipped to sign a 3-year deal.
Also see: Bayer 04 Leverkusen vs Glasgow Rangers live streaming & betting tips: Watch Europa League online.
Wolverhampton Wanderers FC vs Olympiacos Piraeus live streaming & betting tips: Watch Europa League online.
This article was edited by Josh Barker.
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