Charles Watts, the Arsenal correspondent for Goal, has been discussing the recent reports claiming the Gunners are close to completing the signing of Gabriel Magalhaes during a recent video on his YouTube channel.
According to Sky Sports, the two clubs have agreed a £27m fee for the central defender and the Brazilian is now ‘set to join’ the North London club. The report also claims that Arsenal have ‘beaten off’ competition from their Premier League rivals Manchester United in the race to sign the 22-year-old left-footed centre-back.
However, despite things seemingly looking promising, Watts has been discussing the ‘big hurdle’ the Gunners are facing with regards to completing the signing of Gabriel.
He said: “The big hurdle Arsenal have got to get through now is the quarantine rules. Obviously, Gabriel is coming in from France, his agents are based in Brazil – if they’re coming over, they’re going to have to quarantine as well and there is no way around this just because he is an elite-level sportsman. Arsenal have told me they will be adhering to government rules throughout.”
Are you confident the deal bringing Gabriel to Arsenal will be completed in the coming days?
Yes
No
TIF Thoughts…
Given the current circumstances, caused by the recent viral outbreak, we believe Watts is correct to highlight that the government’s guidelines could make the expected completion of this deal somewhat more difficult. However, that is not to say, in our view, that it will prevent Arsenal landing the central defender.
Gabriel has been described as a ‘key member’ of the Lille side that finished fourth in the French top-flight last season and given the level of investment the Gunners appear to be making in the Brazilian, we can assume they clearly feel he is somebody who can develop into a top-class central-defender and represents an upgrade on the club’s current options.