Arsenal have announced the signing of Brazilian defender Gabriel Magalhaes, who has been compared to Kalidou Koulibaly.
Mikel Arteta’s team has already signed several defenders in this movement window, but added a few more after completing the Lille Gabriel star’s move at an agreement value of about 27 million pounds ($36 million).
The 22-year-old Brazilian has finished his move to Emirates Stadium and will wear a number six shirt next season.The Gunners are pleased to welcome Gabriel to their team, with Arteta and technical director Edu already “waiting” to have him in the field.
On the club’s official website, Edu says Arsenal have been following Gabriel’s progress for some time and that they “are very happy to have signed him” this summer.
“He’s a player we’ve been reading for some time and asked through many clubs, so we’re proud to have accepted and finished this play with Lille and the player.Gabriel is a high-quality player and Mikel and his coaches are hunting Forward to integrate him into the club,” Edu said of Gabriel.
Meanwhile, Arteta spoke about his plans to expand Gabriel’s game as an Arsenal player, having witnessed his “many attributes” in Lille.
“It has many qualities that will make us more powerful as a defensive unit and as a team.He has shown with Lille that he is a defender with many notable attributes and we look forward to see him grow as an Arsenal player,” the coach said.
Gabriel dos Santos Magalhaes de Lille la Ligue 1 fits between Lille OSC (LOSC) and Olympique Lyonnais (Lyon, OL) Photo: Getty Images Jean Catuffe
Following his move to Arsenal, a full Talksport exploration report on what Gabriel can bring to the Gunners in the upcoming Premier League season concluded that “there are apparent similarities in the taste for play and power between Gabriel and Senegalese central defender Koulibally.”
Arsenal controlled to recruit 3 defenders in more than a week, with Gabriel being the third.
On 24 August, the Gunners welcomed defenders Pablo Mari de Flamengo and Cedric Soares of Inter Milan in the first team.
The pair joined Arsenal in January first on loan.But after “impressing on and off the field” for more than 8 months, the Gunners and all stakeholders have agreed to turn Mari and Soares into permanent players on the team.