Arsenal have moved another player on this summer as it was officially announced that Gabriel has joined Valencia for a fee believed to be around €11m.
The Brazilian joined Arsenal from Villarreal in January 2015, and made 64 appearances for the Gunners scoring one goal – the opener in a 2-0 win over Bournemouth in December 2015 – and picking up one red card (grrrr Costa).
He’ll join up with his former Villarreal coach Marcelino at the Mestalla and it now remains to be seen how Arsene Wenger will manage his centre-halves for the season ahead.
It may mean that Calum Chambers, tipped to move away this summer, stays to add depth to the squad and to compete alongside Mertesacker, Holding, Koscielny, Mustafi, Monreal and Kolasinac who many hope is earmarked more for the left wing-back role than central defence.
Best of luck to Gabriel.
Very good squad player. Wish him all the best at Valencia
wish good luck to a very honest player!
Is there a buy back clause in there? I have a feeling he’ll be in demand in 2/3yrs he’s such a good player but had bad luck with the timing of his injuries especially the one that forced to go out and buy and overpay for Mustafi even though Mustafi is decent but i feel if he wasn’t injured he would’ve cemented his place as a starter. Good aggressive quick player who just needed a consistent run which unfortunately he never got. Best of luck Gab.
Thanks. I wish you the same. But, at Arsenal.
And for valencia it seems he will be starting under Mel.
He deserves to be in a starting XI – just not at Arsenal. Happy for him.
Are we considering Van Dyke? Thumbs up or down?
Really, Brexit poll wasn’t enough for you?
Good luck Gabby
Can’t be critical of his effort or attitude. Best of luck Gabriel!
This might sound ridiculous, but the only memory that really comes to mind when I think of him is him going crazy at the final whistle against Man City in the semifinal back in April. Xhaka too, Holding as well if I remember correctly. Several of the more veteran players were more muted. I love when players’ emotions spill out like that and you see how much it means to them. Nobody can question Gabriel’s enthusiasm or commitment, but sadly he’s never really looked good enough for us. Hope he does great at Valencia though.
The boss once said that Gabriel will be a revelation. I hoped so too. Loved his passion. Still gutted to see him go. I feel that he didn’t really get a real good chance to prove how good he is. May be it’s just me. May I felt a bit after he talked about his life before football. But I love players with passion. Szczesny was another one.. used to follow Roma games just to seen him play and to tell myself that he will learn and comes back great! All the best Gabriel. I will forever remember you for… Read more »
In fact his dance is the first thing that comes to my mind when I think about our recent FA cup win.
Goodluck gabby. Start to one of many clearances I hope.
Goodluck gabby. Start to one of many clearances I hope
Good luck, Gabriel. You’ve got the makings of a great defender in there and hopefully speaking in a language you’re more familiar with will help you to realise that.
Makings of a great defender. Please. There’s a limit to the outpouring of emotion here, surely. I get the “thanks and good luck” messages, but suddenly he’s (at 26 let’s not forget) got this untapped potential for greatness. How quickly we forget the mistakes, lapses, etc. He was a good squad player at Arsenal, nothing more.
The most important factor in a centre back’s career is a consistent run of games. It’s only when you start being a starter that you can really reach your potential, hone your skills and iron out the flaws. (Remember Koscielny? )Gabriel has the right attitude and skills for a center back, with better match practice, he can acquire the right decision making skills
Yeah, it’s conjecture, I suppose. For me, when I did see him play, he was strong but not a tidy player. Sorry. Wish him the best of luck, but he was a squad player, and I think Holding’s emergence spelled the end for Gabriel at Arsenal.
He did very well at Villarreal and had good games at Arsenal and honestly it wasn’t his defensive skills that were questionable but decision making and some mistakes which could be attributed to lack of communication since he didn’t speak English and the lack of consistant starts. At Valencia where neither should be a problem he might do much better and be a squad rotation player for us
And yet Walcott has had a pass for 11 years…..
Third Plebeian, you’re forgetting rule no.1 on this site. Anything viewed as ‘negative’will be immediately voted down, even if undeniably sensible. Anything viewed as ‘positive’ will be lauded, even if it’s utter nonsense…
Good luck to Gabriel, seems a nice lady who tried hard….but he simply wasn’t very good for us.
I haven’t forgotten the rule, Kwame (you’re spot on, btw). But honestly, couldn’t really care less about what people do with their thumbs!
aw chose him over van dijk
Gabriel Paulista
Arsenal Player 2015-2017
“seemed a nice lady”
That’s one hell of a tombstone
Bloody predictive text, always getting me in trouble !
He is kind of a player like koscielny. While he will never be ball playing He has got potential to become a good no nonsense defender but only with run of consistent games. Koscielny got it but gabriel did not. Even godin used to make many mistakes when he joined athletico but under a good manager and with consistent games he became a rock.
He knows Diego Costa is moving to the La Liga. Give ’em hell Gabriel!
Hah! Good one!
Need to like this twice.
Seems strange to sell him now, when there’s only one fit centre back
Mertesacker and Mustafi are both fit, I believe. Koscielny is also fit (just one more game suspension). We also know that Wenger wants to give Holding opportunities to play this season. Monreal will also feature in the back three, and there’s Chambers.
It’s not strange at all, in fact.
Yes, Mertesacker who is in his final football year and Chambers who hasn’t played in centre back for how long exactly (not to mention that he hasn’t played for Arsenal for a long while)? That leaves with two fit established centre backs and we are supposed to play three at the back (I don’t think Monreal is a liability there but I think he’s better off at wing-back). And that’s gonna be the case for the entire year if Wenger doesn’t buy another defender. The strangest part however is that we are unquestionably weakend at the back in the beginning… Read more »
Chambers played centre back all last season for Middlesborough and for England U21s
sorry, I thought he played right back.
lol. why you guys downvoted someone who apologize?
I expect Monreal to get a fair number of games on the left side if we play a back three, with Kolasinac as the wingback; Koscielny in the middle, or on the left when Mertesacker starts; Mustafi and sometimes Holding on the right. So, even without Chambers, there is good cover.
I think “good cover” is pushing it a little bit. “Cover” yes, but we all know we have a dubious injury record. There’s a lot of games potentially this season if we go for it in all cups & competitions.
But you know Wenger will play Koscielny and Mustafi until he runs them down. We will have Holding and Chambers when there are 10 games to go and every point counts. Mertsacker, the head of academy to be. This will be in his head no matter the great FA Cup final performance. Remember Arteta was unable to deliver his last year.
We might be in negotiations over a new CB. Or Wenger wants to give Chambers a chance.
I don’t think that’s the case since he didn’t played in preseason
play*
That’s because he played for England U21s so needed a rest
No worries, we’ll buy Virgil and Rabiot. Seriously though, I think adding a dominant CB like van dyke, and a good CM, would make us a much better team than signing Lemar or Seri, especially if that meant losing Sanchez.
I’ll miss you????
Would have rather moved Chambers than him.
Best of luck.
The team needs to build a cuota of homegrown players too, that can be an deciding factor! Sry to see him leave though
Agree, he was sacrificed to make the homegrown quota.
Genuinely sorry to see him leave. Thought he fitted into the back 3 system well. Wish him well.
Dreams
Can come true
Nor can they do bar duba do
I always liked him with those wide smile. Looks so cheerful. Good luck to gabby..
He always did remind me of Martin Keown. And just like Keown he could play ugly to match.
Happy for the guy always have his best
I’ll miss Gabriel. Strong and honourable, he was a defender that I had high hopes for. Best of luck to him.
If this means that Chambers will stay, im happy. I honestly think that him and Holding could be the future of Arsenals defence.
So now the net spend reduces to around 40m thus summer as we sell a good player for a pittance. At a time when other clubs are spending like drunken sailors. Is this the price for Wengers fuck up in not making the CL and the reduced season ticket prices leading to lower revenues this season? At the moment it all smacks of fuck up to me. Dearly hope im wrong.
good lucky gabby but i could use him in bk 3 system
We spent 50million on a proven goal scorer and signed a monster left back for free. The transfer window is still open. We’ve moved on a squad player for a fair price. Where’s the fuck up?
Don’t worry, you are dearly wrong. Lacazette and Kolasinac for only a net of 40m with the players we’ve sent out? You call that a steal.
When will we get out of the mindset of having to spend like a drunken Jose Mourinho in the streets of Manchester in order to win? Its sure served them well with Pogba and the lot.
What Arsenal is doing this year (finally) is called “good business”. Enjoy it.
AmericanGooner you had me up until: “What Arsenal is doing this year (finally) is called “good business”. Enjoy it”.
Yes, it’s been good value for what he’s brought in. Is it enough? Not so sure.
Oh, & it’s still a complete mess with too many players entering the last year of their contracts.
Only time will tell as to how “good business” it’s been.
Must add, I did like your “spend like a drunken Jose Mourinho in the streets of Manchester” comment.
If Kyle Walker’s worth £45m, then so is our new left back!!
Why are you an Arsenal supporter? Did Stan sell the club? Do you think we would compete with Man city or U on spending? They don’t know what a budget is? If thats what you want why not just move along?
Thought he was a very good squad player and a tough guy too which is sometimes lacking from this team. His sale seems odd enough at such a low price in today’s market but perhaps he never really settled and wanted out – hard to know what goes on behind the scenes. Best of luck to him at Valencia anyway.
He was good, but 26 of age. I would rather keep Chambers and developed him over Gabby. Not hating I wish him the best. Valencia isnt a bad club neither the city.
I think in that “rapid-fire” with Wenger, Mertesacker says that Gabriel had been the player he would least like to fight (now replaced by Kolasinac). So that tells you a little.
You could see that during the fracas with Costa. Had that been in a pub Gabriel would have sat the cunt on his arse.
I liked him. Took Kos a few seasons to get going and I thought he had a bit…if it’s part of a plan to bring a top centre half to the club then happy daze…if not then meh
I hope we sign a defender now that we have moved him on. I am actually struggling on this one. He probably was far away from the top of the list of players that we had to sell this season. Makes me wonder?! I know Nacho is an extremely good player and I do love him to bits but does Arsene actually think Nacho is now going to be our central defender? Is it worth taking the risk especially now that we have already put a massive 200 million on the line even before the season has started? I certainly… Read more »
That was a fast deal. Very un-arsenal-like
Decent player and likeable fella. Just not quite at the very top quality wise but did a decent job when called upon in the main. My biggest memory is his piece after the chapecoense disaster. Really moving and emotional, big respect to him and good luck in the future.
as it stands seems like first choice centre backs are holding, mustafi, kos, with per and chambers coming in for certain games. Add monreal as potential back up in cb i say we’re atill pretty well covered. Just dont let any more centre backs leave.
I’d rather have sold Mustafi than him but there you go. I just hope this means Chambers will get a fair crack but I’m not convinced OGL rates him. Good luck Gabriel though.
Sold Mustafi?????….no wonder you’re a laughing stock
If what you saw of Mustafi last year filled you with confidence I think you’d better change your name to the same as mine! Maybe it was first season syndrome but I think Mustafi is a dud
Mustafi’s early season form was imperial, his formed dipped because the whole team’s form dipped….there was a point where everyone was shite…and this was all due to various factor’s that affected the whole team e.g a hostile environment created by fuck-faced fans like you, Wenger’s contractual situation etc…..
Good luck Gabby if you play your cards right, decent player in his generation game and strictly a sound bloke…RIP Bruce.
Good luck at Valencia, Gabriel. Hope it works out for you.
Class guy. Left it all out there on and off the pitch. Like in this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PN9a0l7r9Js
Good luck to Gabriel. Surely we can’t sell Chambers now? If we do we must have a centre half transfer lined up.
Hopefully making space (and the no5 shirt) available for Van Dijk to come in
Not sure how well the STATDNA services we employ worked. Two notable signings…elneny and gabriel. Good players, but not the diamonds in the rough that this software aims to highlight
Wenger took a chance with him it never payed off but hey ho off we go more money for Lemar transfer 😉
He always struck me as a fighter, an underdog, a guy with something to prove, which is strange considering he started for a club like Arsenal- that should tell you something about his ability in the greater scheme of things, footballing wise. His agony when he fucked up was obvious, which I always found to be endearing. Sentimental and a romantic? Hell yes I am, but that’s what football is for me. Cynicism and pragmatism I reserve for the real world.
And that right there was there spirit of Highbury….Underdog, with fight and always had something to prove, sentimental-hell yeah….we were close knit as a club, not the fcken circus we see these days with the ArsenalTV Clowns outside the Emirates!!….spoken like a true Gooner
Please, please can you repeat that clip of him flattening Costa!!! (From last season’s 3-0 home win)
Good luck Gabriel. My memory of you was when you made an excellent tackle at south side of our ground (can’t remember against who) and went nuts afterwards. It was a great tackle. Full of passion, shame it didn’t work out. Good luck
Surprise we got rid of him so quickly.
I would have thought probably in January when he is confirmed recovered.
He was developing into a decent back up player but I suppose we have Koscielny and Mustafi ahead plus Chambers and Holding developing.
Add in Monreal, Kolasinac or left of back 3 plus Per and we have plenty.
Funny thing is when asked who to be most afraid of, most players mentioned Gabriel, the Favela ganster.
Good luck to him. Hope he can help revitalise Valencia.
This seems like a strange one to me with the injury history of late with Kos and Per (especially with his retiring next year). I am glad it appears it will move Holden up in the pecking order, but also a bit short in my opinion in an area that has been a struggle for us. It could be Wenger is looking to bring someone in for the backline or from what he’s seen he feels Chambers is ready to make a contribution. I do hope that we are looking to get someone else into the squad that can make… Read more »
We should have signed Davinson Sanchez for now & future and now he goes to Spuds….
We are not great at signing defensive players!
We just signed a left-sided defender.
He’s the Elneny of the back line.
They know they aren’t the dog’s bollocks but they are happy to bide time on the bench and come on for us when need be.
Like Elneny a hard working player.
Good squad player and always a tryer… though I never quite felt secure with him at the back (not that we ever feel THAT secure anyway) so I think it’s the right decision to let him go. Will be nice to see Chambers given a chance for one more season at least…plenty of games to feature in this season. All the best to Gabby.
He was shit add to another of wengers poor defender’s his bought. The list goes on.
He wasn’t a bad player at all. Tell me this big list of poor defenders that Aw has signed
Senderos, Djourou, Cygan, Stepanovs, Squillacci, that’s just off the top of my head
Good thing you added Squillaci to the list so that it could include someone who was signed within the last 15 years, give or take a year. Otherwise, your point would’ve seemed statistically insignificant. Too bad you couldn’t compare that list to every other manager of a top club who, over 20 years, apparently never signs a raft of players who don’t turn into international superstars.
I’m pretty certain that with the exception of Stepanovs they were all signed within the last 15 years.
daaaaaaamn that’s a good looking shirt
¡Buena Suerte! I enjoyed getting to see his only goal for Arsenal in person. With a good run of games under his belt, he will be an asset to Valencia.
Sad to see him leave, though I know his performances varied. I wish him all the best at Valencia. Always liked the idea of at least one brasileiro being in the Arsenal squad.
Going to miss him putting Lukaku in his back pocket.
Can’t see this improving Callum Chambers chances… Where was he yesterday?