Gabriel, Arsenal and Brazil are all under the spotlight from supporters who are frustrated at the defender's injury
14:00, 17 Nov 2025Updated 14:17, 17 Nov 2025
Gabriel Magalhaes decided against attending Brazilian national team four years ago as Arsenal defender's injury takes new twist
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Gabriel Magalhaes decided against attending Brazilian national team four years ago as Arsenal defender's injury takes new twist(Image: Catherine Ivill - AMA/Getty Images)
Arsenal have lost Gabriel Magalhaes to injury after it was confirmed the defender had suffered a muscular problem during a friendly between Brazil and Senegal. It has left many asking questions - and, in particular, who is to blame for the situation?
Injuries can happen by chance and be very difficult to predict; however, reports have emerged that the player was warming up separately from his teammates during the Friday session. There was also a reported understanding about the player’s load and concern about the risk of injury, adding to the frustration.
It is therefore worth exploring where the blame lies and if anything could have been done, and by whom, to have stopped the situation from occurring. football.london explores exactly where the fingers are rightly or wrongly aimed...
Arsenal
The club have faced scrutiny for “allowing” Gabriel to join up with his national side, at least that’s what some fans have suggested. The reality is of course different with the club unable to block a player leaving for their national team.
Arsenal can make requests and recommendations while also providing all the relevant information about their players as would have been the case that led to Gabriel warming up separately on Friday. Arsenal and Brazil’s interactions have faced challenges in the past.
In 2023, then Brazil manager Fernando Diniz decided to bring Gabriel Jesus to the squad despite being missing from the Arsenal team, having suffered an issue against Sevilla in October and was thought to be ruled out until after the November international break.
However, because Gabriel Martinelli had not been called up for the October internationals with indications he shouldn’t be included before then coming off the bench against Manchester City to score the winning goal, Diniz thought it best to have Jesus checked over by his own staff.
“In the last squad, we hadn’t called up Martinelli from Arsenal,” he said at the time . “He didn’t report to the CBF in a very complete way, so we didn’t imagine that Martinelli would be ready to play against Venezuela and Uruguay, and he was ready to play before our games."
“Because of this too, we’re going to bring Gabriel [Jesus] in to find out his real condition, because we still have 15 days to go until the games, so we believe he could be fit enough to play, because I like him a lot. We have 24 players on the list, and if anything happens to him we won’t need to change the squad.”
Therefore, Gabriel Magalhaes, attending the Brazil squad despite having concerns over his load, will have been made completely clear to staff. Sadly Arsenal’s ability to block these scenarios is not as strong as many might think or hope.
Brazil
Carlo Ancelotti is indeed facing scrutiny over the call, especially after he openly apologised to Arsenal supporters when asked if he could temper their fears after the game.
"Bad? I don’t know, he had a problem [with] his adductor. The medical staff have to check tomorrow," the Brazil manager stated.
"We are really sorry for this, really disappointed. When players have an injury, I hope they can recover well and soon.”
As reported by Sky Sports, knowing that there were concerns over the player’s load and to start him in a friendly just raises so many questions. Mikel Arteta faces the media on Friday and is sure to be asked on the matter.
Gabriel Magalhaes
Could Gabriel have done more, knowing his own body and knowing that these games were just friendlies with such an important run of club games coming up? Only he will know.
It’s worth noting that playing for your country is regarded by the vast majority as a tremendous honour, but for Brazilians in particular, there is a well-documented additional passion that drives players. Add to that the chance to play in his club stadium, The Emirates, and that too will have been a great opportunity for him.
However, there were some interesting quotes that arose in 2023 from Juninho Paulista, the Brazilian national team co-ordinator. Reports at the time claim that the former Middlesbrough icon had hinted that Gabriel’s decision to turn down a call-up to the national team for the birth of his daughter affected the lack of a call-up for the World Cup in Qatar.
“These are choices. I went through it. My son was born, I was waiting in England, and the next day I came to Brazil because I had injured my knee and needed to recover as quickly as possible,” he explained.
“My wife stayed there for 40 days alone, with the help of a nanny. Did it hurt? When it comes to weighing, you will put everything on the scale, and it is inevitable, you will put everything on the scale. The other one comes, plays and then it happens to lose a little space.”
Could this, therefore, have had such an impact that it has given Gabriel the mindset never to turn down a call-up, even if there are fitness concerns? There is no way of knowing without hearing from the man himself on the matter.
Ultimately, while the blame question will linger on, without all the information, this remains purely speculation for now. What is known is that the muscular injury has been confirmed, and Gabriel’s inclusion in the upcoming games looks very unlikely.
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