Arsenal: 4 most improved players this season

4. Gabriel

Last season Gabriel got his Arsenal career off to an exciting start when he nodded in from a corner to put his side 2-0 up against Fulham on the opening day of the season. Already by that point the excitement began building.

Despite Arsenal being in dire form across October and November, Gabriel stood out as one of the more impressive performers, before a red card against Southampton saw his season take a turn. He would be in and out of the team in place of Pablo Mari, and as encouraging as the signs were from him, he had an erratic nature to his play that danced between the line of damaging and rewarding.

But he was never signed with the idea that he’d be a world beater in his first season. He joined in the middle of a pandemic, not speaking any English, and featured alongside a series of centre-backs who weren’t his long-term partner. Not to mention the team as a whole were dreadful.

This season he’s cleaned his game up exponentially. The timing of his tackles is smarter, his positioning off the ball is tighter and his distribution out of the back brings a variance to White’s style alongside him. He remains strong in his own box but now there is a heavily reduced concern that he might go to ground unnecessarily.

Having a cemented partner has done him a favour, of course, and he is still not where he needs to be when it comes to measuring his timings in possession, but on the whole he’s evolved into a more well-rounded and imposing central defender who revels in the one-on-one duels and brings cohesion in build-up play.

An Arsenal central defender for years to come.