It’s amazing how many times in football we see a player linked with the same clubs for months, only for a new team to appear at the last moment and get things done.
Lille have always been a selling club so it looks like impressive defender Gabriel Magalhaes will be the latest player to move on for a large profit, and a report from French outlet La Voix du Nord will interest Man United and Arsenal fans.
They indicate that Napoli and Man United were both chasing the defender who’s valued at €30m, but it appeared that a move to Old Trafford was the most likely.
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That changed when Arsenal made an approach, and it appears he was so impressed with their pitch to him that he now wants to move to The Emirates – and as quickly as possible.
Arsenal have experience of dealing with Lille after signing Nicholas Pepe last summer so that should help them, but the report suggests a solution will be found in the next few days.
For now they state that he’s training as normal and he’s also taking part in the pre season games, so that does suggest a move isn’t imminent.
Both United and Arsenal need to improve in defence and Gabriel certainly had a good season last year, so it will be interesting to see if he can handle the step up.