It’s official…Gabriel is a Gunner!

FINALLY, it’s official! Gabriel do Santos Magalhaes is a member of the Arsenal Football Club!

The 22-year-old centerback comes from Lille where he helped his club to a fourth place finish in Ligue 1, and played in all six of their Champions League matches last season.

Mikel Arteta had this to say about his new center back, “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.”

The new Arsenal player responded with these remarks to Arsenal.com, “It was a very surreal experience, there were offers coming from a few different clubs. I spoke a lot with my family and my agents, I also spoke with some of Lille’s directors, but as I said, the club’s history and traditions and the team project for the next few years were very motivational for my decision to come here. So here I am, wearing the Arsenal shirt. I will give my best for it.”

Gabriel signed a five year contract, and will wear the number 6 shirt.

Gooners should be thrilled with this signing. He will hopefully be a great compliment to William Saliba in the spine of our defense for years to come.

So far, Gabriel joins Willian, Mari, Luiz, Saka and Soares as Arteta’s first team summer signings.

Dani Ceballos is looking promising as well as a one-year loan deal from Real Madrid.

Welcome to Arsenal, Gabriel!

Cheers.

Gunner1953