We have known for a while that both Arsenal and Napoli have had bids in the region of £27 million accepted by Lille. It has just been a matter of striking an agreement with the player, with most sources suggesting that Arsenal are in pole position. In fact, yesterday, The Times reported that the player has completd a medical and will accept a five-year contract, although Napoli have not fully given up.

Today, reputed source Gianluca Di Marzio has himself confirmed that the player is “closer to Arsenal”, and we can expect him to say yes to the Gunners as long as he doesn’t want to wait for Napoli.

The full story is that Arsenal made Gabriel an “interesting offer”, which could be closed as early as tomorrow morning.

Another tweet, from Sky Sport Italy’s Mario Giunta, says that the deal will happen if Manchester United do not raise their offer in the coming hours:

United were not in the race until a few days ago. According to Fabrizio Romano (on Aug 18), United entered the race late:

Header Photo: Liondartois, 2019