Spanish News Outlets Claim Gabriel Paulista Deal Done

Spanish News outlets are reporting that Villareal’s versatile defender Gabriel Paulista will join Arsenal by the end of the day in a deal worth around £15m, the reported buy out clause on the defenders contract. It seems strange to see how quickly the deal has gone from speculation to completion but I am starting to believe the news, it’s just coming from too many sources to be complete rubish anyway.

The first sign I heard of the deal was when we published an article a few days ago looking at the signing and explaining that it actually made a lot of sense when looking at it from an Arsenal and Arsene Wenger point of view; plus the fact Paulista does actually look like a decent player.

Villareal’s manager is also quoted as saying:

"“If both Gabriel and the club believe that sale to Arsenal is what [is] best for everyone, we accept it.”"

It looks like the deal is going to be going through very soon, but there is likely to be a delay as Arsenal will have wait on the work permit situation which could prove extremely tricky, given that he is a young player with no caps for his international side.

In other transfer news Arsenal have renewed interest in purchasing another defensive midfielder, with Newcastle’s Cheick Tiote and Athletico Madrid’s Mario Suarez popping up amongst the rumour mill in the past couple of days.

Tiote is not a versatile player like Paulista, in that he will only really do any kind of job for you if held in the defensive role, and I’m not sure he’s got the expansive passing or vision we would want for a player in that kind of role.

Mario Suarez is a player that has been linked repeatedly with a variety of clubs, and this is the first time I have seen it linked with Arsenal. The club that seemed to be leading the chase were our East London neighbours West Ham, who are looking to add to their squad to cater for injuries and suspensions as they push for their best league finish in years.