Arsenal face the prospect of losing a key defender to Barcelona this summer.
Gunners fans may have felt that the days of their stars leaving in their prime for Catalonia were behind them, with the likes of Marc Overmars, Emmanuel Petit, Alexander Hleb and Cesc Fabregas having moved to the Blaugrana, along with the strikers Thierry Henry and more recently, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
But with Barcelona seemingly overcome by their financial woes and Xavi looking to add more reinforcements to his squad this summer, the midfield legend could be plundering the team of Mikel Arteta, also a La Masia graduate, for more finds.
sports journal They claim Barca are ready to move for defender Gabriel in a bid to strengthen the back line as left-back defenders Clement Lenglet and Samuel Umtiti are out this summer. Gabriel is left-handed.
The Brazilian has broken into his national team and been the leader in central defense for the Gunners, forming a strong partnership with Ben White. The Gunners have proven much harder to beat this season, and that is, in part, thanks to Gabriel’s strength and dominance at the back.
Arsenal themselves have been linked with Torino defender Bremer, who is believed to be in discussions over a move from Serie A to Torino. The Gunners also have the highly rated William Saliba, who will return from successive loan spells at Saint-Etienne, Nice and Marseille.
Gabriel is worth 27 million pounds, according to Transfermarkt.
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Arsenal remain linked to new strikers, with Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah both out of contract at the end of this season. Paulo Dybala is a player who has reportedly turned heads, while Cody Gakpo has also been linked with a move this summer.
Crystal Palace manager Patrick Vieira has said he is not surprised by Mikel Arteta’s success and Arteta himself has defended his team’s celebrations in the wake of criticism. Nacho Monreal, for his part, recently spoke about the departure of Mesut Ozil from the club with FFTs.
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