Gabriel chooses to join Arsenal over Manchester United in €30m deal | OneFootball

Arsenal have apparently convinced Gabriel Magalhaes to join them in a deal said to be worth €30m despite Manchester United’s attempts to get him to pick Old Trafford.

If the news coming out of France that Gabriel has chosen Arsenal is true, then the Gunners are certainly not messing around this summer.

Normally, we can count on at least a few quiet weeks after the season ends to chill out for a bit, but we no longer live in normal times. Just this week Arsenal have apparently agreed a deal with Willian, moved closer to signing Philippe Coutinho (both Kia Joorabchian clients) and basically decided they don’t need scouts any more.

According to La Voix des Sports, the 22-year-old left-footer has chosen to join up with his former Lille teammate, Nicolas Pepe, at Arsenal despite only signing a contract extension in February that tied him to Lille until 2023.

In total, if the fee reported is correct, it would take Arsenal’s spending with the Ligue 1 side to around £100m for two players, one year apart.

“According to our information,” La Voix des Sports write, “the central defender spoke with representatives of Arsenal earlier this week, and he was particularly sensitive to their speech. He would therefore like to join the Gunners, and as quickly as possible. We will know more in the coming days.”

Lille paid €3m for the player just three-and-a-half years ago so €30m would represent a great profit for them.

There is the possibility that Manchester United could use Champions League football to derail the deal, but it seems, at present, that the Brazilian would prefer Arsenal.

Surprisingly, he is not represented by Kia Joorabchian.

Earlier this week, Lille site LePetitLillois claimed Arsenal accelerated a deal for Gabriel after qualifying for Europe at the weekend. Napoli and Everton were reportedly still in the race then but it seems they’ve both gone as options now. Everton apparently ‘ran out of steam’ while there is no reason given for Napoli no longer being in the picture apart from ‘the Brazilian will not join Napoli’.

Lille president Gerard Lopez told the French media last week they’d make a decision imminently. Lopez added it would only be around a week before they knew his destination.

That was nine days ago.