Arsenal: Gabriel’s Injury Will Force Wenger’s Hand In Market

Gabriel Paulista suffered what could be a serious injury in Arsenal’s 3-2 victory over Manchester City. This could force Arsene Wenger to buy a center back.

There were a lot of positives to take away from Arsenal’s 3-2 friendly victory over Manchester City, in which The Citizens’ defense made a number of errors that led to goals for the Gunners.

Related Story: Where's The Urgency With Shkodran Mustafi?

Mohamed El Neny particularly impressed: the Egyptian midfielder was accurate with the majority of his passing and used the space in his defensive midfield role very well.

Theo Walcott, Alex Iwobi and Alexis Sanchez also performed. Walcott and Sanchez, interchanging positions frequently, flummoxed the young Manchester City defenders in the second half and created plenty of opportunities for each other. Alex Iwobi scored a good goal that bodes very well for the upcoming campaign.

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Mentioning that good play, though, the afternoon was marred by an injury to Arsenal’s Gabriel Paulista that could keep Paulista out for at least a week, judging by the pain he was in when he went down and the fact that he needed to be carried off via stretcher.

Arsene Wenger said after the match that he “could not tell you [the press] more” about the Brazilian’s condition, as there had been no serious tests done on Gabriel’s ligament.

One thing he did admit, though, is that the Gunners were short at the back for the moment.

Which could not be more true.

As it stands, Laurent Koscielny is the only center back that made more than ten appearances for the first team last year who isn’t on the injury table – and even still, the French defender has been given a rest until at least after the Liverpool match on August 14.

Calum Chambers and Rob Holding are both available, but it is unlikely Arsene Wenger has a high amount of confidence in the two young Englishman to fend off a powerful Liverpool attack that now includes new signing Sadio Mane, much improved Divock Origi and in-form Roberto Firmino, in addition to other talented players.

The signing of Valencia’s Shkodran Mustafi is imperative – and now that the Gunners are so short at the back, Valencia owner Peter Lim will take one call from Arsene Wenger and ask for double the money, knowing how bad the French coach needs a defender.

“As it stands, Laurent Koscielny is the only center back that made more than ten appearances for the first team last year who isn’t on the injury table”

This injury has definitely come at an unfortunate time for Arsenal, but there’s no doubt that through their lack of activity in this year’s transfer market, they were under-prepared for an injury crisis.

Other options would be Dortmund’s Neven Subotic, who is probably much cheaper than Mr. Mustafi, and Napoli’s Kalidou Koulibaly – but the latter could be a difficult purchase because Napoli have already made their big money in this window.

Other options that could be are Ajax’s Joel Veltman, who has just had a terrific season in 2015/16, Bursaspor’s Serdar Aziz, who was a rock in the back of the Turkish side’s defense in 2015/16, and Torino’s Polish defender Kamil Glik, who had a very impressive season with Torino and a solid EURO 2016.

Next: 5 Takeaways From Arsenal's Win Over Manchester City

Arsenal need to get busy in the transfer market, that’s for sure.