Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta reportedly dropped Gabriel Magalhaes at the start of the 2023/2024 season due to interest from Saudi Arabia, and those ‘fears’ could return amid contact from Al Nassr.
Gabriel joined Arsenal from French club Lille for around £24million in September 2020 and is now a key cog in Arteta’s side, forming arguably the strongest defensive partnership in the Premier League with William Saliba.
But a report earlier this week from transfer expert Ben Jacobs claimed Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al Nassr ‘are planning an ambitious summer bid’ for the 27-year-old.
Arteta unsurprisingly deems Gabriel a ‘key part of his plans’ but Al Nassr ‘are prepared to offer’ him €20million (£16.8m) a year, which is ‘around three times’ his salary at the Emirates and also tax free.
The report states that the Brazil international ‘is open to heading to Saudi at some point in his career’, though it is emphasised that his current ‘priority’ is his current club and winning this season’s Champions League.
Arsenal want to extend Gabriel’s contract as his current deal expires in two years’ time and ‘are unlikely to even consider offers’ below €100m (£84.1m).
Gunners insider Charles Watts has now told CaughtOffside that Arteta left Gabriel out of his starting XI at the start of the 2023/2o24 season over “fears his head has been turned” and admitted he wouldn’t be surprised if Arsenal have a decision to make over his “player of the season” this summer.
“The interest from Saudi Arabia in Gabriel Magalhaes is nothing new, it dates back a couple of years now,” Watts said.
“In the summer of 2023 there were fears at Arsenal that Gabriel’s head had been turned by the money that was on offer, which was why he was left out of the team in those early games that season.
“Mikel Arteta publicly said it was tactical, but it wasn’t. It was because of what was going on behind the scenes with the interest from Saudi.
“Arsenal did not want to lose him and ultimately Gabriel stayed put, with Arteta swiftly restoring him to his starting XI once the situation was put to bed.
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“Since then Gabriel has obviously gone to form what, in my opinion, is the best centre-back partnership in the Premier League and possibly even the world with William Saliba.
“So the last thing Arsenal would want this summer is a repeat of what happened in 2023, but it would be no surprise if the interest from Saudi did result in a firm offer, although at this stage it is a bit too early to suggest it definitely will.
“Obviously every player has a price, so I can’t sit here and say Arsenal should not even contemplate a sale should a bid arrive, but it would have to be huge to tempt them into doing business – over £100m in my opinion.
“Gabriel is so important to this team at both ends of the pitch. He’s comfortably my Arsenal player of the season and along with Saliba he is the bedrock that the side is built on.”