Arsenal are set to announce a deal for Lille defender Gabriel imminently with the player ready to sign for the Gunners unless Manchester United return with an improved offer.
Arsenal appeared to have won the race for the 22-year-old central defender after agreeing a £22.7m deal, only for the Red devils to make a last-minute attempt to hijack the move from their Premier League rivals.
Gabriel Magalhaes asked for more time to make a final decision, having also been presented with an offer to move to Serie A side Napoli.
However, Sky Sport Italia’s Gianluca Di Marzio claims that Gabriel is set to sign a contract with Arsenal and that the deal could even be completed as early as on Saturday morning.
The only stumbling block to the deal now is whether United will return with another improved offer for Gabriel, with Solskjaer’s side yet to follow up on their initial offer.
Although Napoli matched Arsenal’s offer for the Lille star, he prefers the deal offered to him by the north London club and wants to play in the Premier League.
In another boost to the gunners’ hopes of landing the player, The Times reports that Gabriel has already completed a medical at the club’s training ground.
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The contract he has been offered by Arsenal will run until 2025, as Mikel Arteta made sigming a new left-sided centre-back his priority to improve the defence.
Gabriel will compete for a place in the team along with 19-year-old William Saliba, who was loaned back to Saint-Etienne last campaign, as well as David Luiz and Pablo Mari.
Arteta is prepared to sell some defenders once Gabriel arrives, with Rob Holding, Calum Chambers, Papastathopoulos and Shkodran Mustafi all among those he wants to offload.
