The worst kept secret in football was made official today when Gabriel Magalhaes officially signed for Arsenal.
Anxious fans were on tenterhooks waiting for the announcement, but they can rest easy now after the €30m man arrived from Lille, having signed a five year deal.
The 22 year old revealed he’d had a number of ‘good conversations’ with compatriot Edu, the Gunners’ Technical Director, but said that phone calls from Mikel Arteta are what helped make up his mind to join us ahead of other interested parties.
Speaking about the potential transfer, he said, “As the days went by I was getting very excited about it, then I had a call from the coach and that was very reassuring.
“Having the coach himself calling you to say he wants you in his squad motivates you a lot.
“That is the very reason I am here today.”
He also pointed to the club’s stature as another factor in his decision.
“I know the history and traditions of this club and it is a pleasure being here,” he said.
“It was a very surreal experience, there were offers coming from a few different clubs.
“I spoke a lot with my family and my agents, I also spoke with some of Lille’s directors, but as I said, this club’s history and traditions and the team project for the next few years were very motivational for my decision to come here.
“So here I am, wearing the Arsenal shirt, I will give my best for it and come on you Gunners!”
Let’s hope he settles in well, but with fellow Brazilians David Luiz, Gabriel Martinelli and Willian at the club, he should feel right at home pretty quickly.
Read the story in the Athletic about this kid’s background and upbringing in Brazil and it sounds like he has exceptional character, humility and focus in addition to his profile and talent, which clearly plays a strong part in why Mikel Arteta wanted him in the squad. I am really hopeful he proves to be a resounding success at Arsenal for years to come.
Also to turn down bigger salary from UTD shows that money isn’t the biggest motivating factor for him. That can only be a good thing.
Perhaps when he looked at United and saw his defensive partner will be one Harry Mcguire… he was like, “nah! No way!”
Maybe he’s smart and realised they’re a complete shit show
I hear he also turned up for his first day at the club with some orange sheeeerrrrbbbbbeeeeerrrrrtttttt.
Not many Austin Powers fans out there then…
Johnny I laughed out loud mate, nice one. I imagined Artetaon the zoom wiggling his eyebrows… You will sign, not negotiate certain things and bring me some oraaaaaange sheeeeerbeeeert…
Hahaha! I think that must be what he did on Xhaka too in January…!
No, as Austin Powers is absolute pony.
Throw me a fricking bone here…
Arteta’s persuasive tongue seals the deal, eh.
I really wonder if back 3 or back 4 will be deployed next season.
Is it gonna be Gabriel Luiz Saliba?
I think we will see 4-3-3 against smaller teams like Sp*rs, and 3-4-3 against the likes of Liverpool and City.
I’m confident with a CB pairing of Gabriel and Saliba in a back four because of the structure Arteta has put in place.
I’m also confident with the back three you’ve mentioned.
This will be interesting to see, the reason our back three works so well right now is because of AMN’s and Tierney’s flexibility. Tierney is comfortable playing LCB out of possession, and moves over to LB when we have the ball, while Ainsley is comfortable defending out wide and dropping into midfield. If Gabriel plays LCB in a back 3, we have Tierney playing as an out and out wingback, similar to something Conte used in his time at Chelsea, however this loses us bodies in midfield and disrupts our pressing structure because Tierney isn’t suited for that role. I’m… Read more »
I think we’ll start with the three and have Luiz/Mustafi central for a bit of Prem experience for the two new young guys.
As the season moves on hopefully Saliba and Gabriel play well enough we can shift to a 4.
How about a 3-2-4-1 formation?
Welcome big man
Can’t underestimate the personal influence. We saw that many times with Wenger pulling weight on players… Most notably that “panic buy” Ozil whom had it been known earlier many teams would have been in for. They kept it quiet and had to await Bale’s move to RM before pulling the trigger late in window but the ground work was already firmly made between player and us with Metersecker employed to also act as go between/influencer and of course does not hurt the manager speaking fluent German. Currently looks like Edu may have some benefits with Brasilian connection but I think… Read more »
Agree with you mate. Players want to be part of exciting, successful projects that show them off and get noticed.
Gabriel will want to be in the Brazil squad and I’m sure Arteta’s brand in world football is high right now. (Having Edu won’t hurt either.)
Edu has a tough job because the world and his dog knows we’ve got a poorly put together squad. You could have Sven, Campos, Dein and Marotta and they’d still struggle to shift the players we want to sell for good prices. Sok at 4.5m is where we’re at.
I don’t think anyone cheers a dog’s bollocks .. except maybe the dog itself
Welcome to the Arsenal Magalhaes?
Players must love how clearly Arteta describes his plans and vision for the club. It’s the same in any job really, how wonderful is it to have a boss who has clear long and short term objectives, articulates them, and delegates thoughtfully? It makes everyone’s job easier and allows them to excel in their role. Both Emery and Arteta wanted to play out from the back. You got the sense with Emery that the idea stopped there. “Play out from the back, lads”, you never saw a coordinated plan on the pitch. There are still some shaky moments playing out,… Read more »
Funny, when I learned of Manchester United interest, I immediately thought ‘Come on, Arteta, get on the phone to the lad’ – which seems to be exactly what happened.