Everton are in talks to sign Gabriel Magalhaes, according to Independent Sport, and Arsenal may need to move with haste if they wish to beat Carlo Ancelotti’s side to the Lille defender’s signature.
Both the Gunners and the Toffees had been named as potential destinations for the 22-year old centre-back, having both made January bids for the defender, according to Mail Online.
Now, it is being reported that Everton have moved early in an attempt to strike a deal with the French club, according to the Independent, having opened negotiations with the club and the player’s representatives this week.
With Mikel Arteta previously expressing a desire to have all of his transfer business done before the beginning of Euro 2020, the Spaniard should now move quickly to compete for Gabriel’s signature, if he indeed wants the centre-back.
Arteta is believed to have a centre-back, as well as two central midfielders on his transfer wish-list, and should Gabriel be an option for the Gunners, they would benefit from acting quickly.
Gabriel could potentially prove to be a valuable player for the Gunners, and his statistics go some way to back that theory up. With an average of 1.7 tackles per game, the Brazilian outranks all Arsenal centre-backs except Calum Chambers, while his 0.8 fouls per game is less than both David Luiz and Sokratis.
Gabriel’s averages amount of passes per game (62.4) is also higher than all of Arsenal’s current defensive group, indicating that the 22-year is more than capable of playing out from the back if required to do so.
Having played 23 times in Ligue 1 this season, the Brazilian has been an ever-present player for Les Dogues. Transfermarkt list Gabriel’s valuation at £13.5million, although Indy Sport claim that Everton could expect to pay £25million for Gabriel, which is a respectable price tag that Arsenal could jump on.
With the Blues set to push hard to get a move for Gabriel done, the window of time in which Arsenal can throw a wrench into the Toffees’ plans is rapidly decreasing, and they should move quickly if they want to steal a march.
