According to multiple reports, Arsenal and Lille have now reached agreement on a deal for the transfer of central defender Gabriel Magalhaes. Long linked to the Emirates, it appears the deal is about to finally be completed.
Via an ESPN report, the 22-year-old will undergo his medical on Monday with an agreement of €30 million(£27.5, $34.5m) having been reached. Meanwhile Goal, in a report published four hours prior to the ESPN FC article, has different figures, stating numbers “believed to be around £25 million ($33m)”.
And just so you have that in Euros, the most up to date exchange rate would put that at €30. The Goal article states that the contract will keep Gabriel at the club for five years.
Gabriel dos Santos Magalhães, known most commonly as Gabriel, is the left footed centre back that Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has been seeking for some time. One of the major hold-ups from getting this deal done has been all of the interest from other potential suitors.
Reportedly, the player was down to Napoli and Arsenal as his final two clubs, but he’s been linked with several other clubs this spring, including Manchester United and Everton. His name even popped with Chelsea back in March. The finalization of the transfer, like everything else in 2020, will be complicated by COVID concerns.
He’ll enter into the United Kingdom from France, one of the countries on the UK’s two week mandatory quarantine list. Anyone arriving from France into the UK must self-isolate for 14 days according to government mandated protocols.
Gabriel will become the second player signed by the Emirates club this summer, after Willian, who moved on a free from Chelsea.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with News Now. Banks, the author of “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry,” regularly contributes to WGN TV, Sports Illustrated, Chicago Now and SB Nation.
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