Gabriel Magalhaes is happy to remain at Arsenal this summer.
According to The Daily Mail Transfer Confidential bulletin, Gabriel Magalhaes is content to stay at Arsenal despite genuine interest in his signature from Real Madrid.
Gabriel has endured a strange start to the new Premier League campaign. Having made 73 consecutive starts for Arsenal over the course of the previous two seasons, Mikel Arteta has left the centre-back out of his starting XI for each of the Gunners’ two games so far this term.
However, Gabriel did come on from the bench against both Nottingham Forest and Crystal Palace to help the Gunners protect their lead. Speaking after the win at Selhurst Park last night, Arteta was adamant that Gabriel remains in his plans.
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As quoted by Hayters, the Spanish coach said, “he’s played in both games, he helped us to win both games for different reasons. He was really good today, he absolutely dominated the box when he came on and he’s going to play a lot of games.”
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Gabriel needs his Arsenal place back
Gabriel’s omission from the starting XI has seen Ben White join William Saliba in the heart of the rearguard, whilst Thomas Partey has deputised at right-back. This set up hasn’t looked entirely convincing in terms of giving the Gunners a solid platform to build attacks from. If Gabriel is to remain at the Emirates Stadium, he will surely return to the first choice line-up before long.
The Brazilian built a solid and reliable partnership with Saliba last season, as the pair complemented one another. Arteta will want them side-by-side again when Arsenal face some tougher tests this season.
Gabriel and Saliba have recently shown that they can defend against the best, as they worked together to keep Erling Haaland quiet in the north London club’s Community Shield triumph.
A question remains as to how honest Arteta is being here. If Gabriel’s head has been turned by interest from elsewhere, then the manager may have lost some faith in the 25-year-old. That being said, losing a player of Gabriel’s quality, especially this late in the transfer window, would be a disaster for Arsenal. He needs to be kept and reintegrated as a matter of urgency.