OFFICIAL: ARSENAL SIGN A CB

Villarreal CF @VillarrealCF 
Principio de acuerdo de traspaso con el @Arsenal por Gabriel, quien se despedirá hoy antes del partido.¡Mucha suerte!

Samba is Back

Following the Samba traditions under Wenger at Arsenal, there have been a mixed bag of Brazilians strutting their stuff. Over the years, this has included Sylvinho (1999-2001), Edu (2001-05), Jaimez (2001-04), Gilberto (2002-08), Baptista (2006-07), Denilson (2006-13), Eduardo (2007-10) and most recently, Andre Santos (2011-13). After a brief hiatus (I blame it on the disaster that were Denilson, Eduardo and Santos, for varying reasons), Wenger has brought some Samba back in the central defender, Gabriel Armando de Abreu hailing from São Paulo, simply known as Gabriel Paulista or Gabriel. We have beaten off Manchester United to seal the deal, from what little birds are chirping (read: tweeting).

The Moolah

After joining The Yellow Submarine on August 15, 2013 on a five year deal (till 30.06.2018) for €3.3m, Gabriel now moves to the red side of London, with Joel Campbell moving the other way on a loan to the end of the season (thankfully, no option to buy has been mentioned yet). Although he had a release clause of €20m (~16m pounds), journalist Kike Marin reckons we bagged him for €18m (or ~13.4m pounds).

That is definitely higher than what Transfermarkt reckons as his market value (€8m). It is also the club-record transfer fee for selling a defender for Villareal. Our previous central defenders, Vermaelen, Koscielny and Mertesacker, each cost ~10m pounds, while the British youngster Chambers set us back by a healthy 16m quid.

Are Villareal laughing their way to their bankers, pocketing a Portugese-club-esque profit above ~€16m, or is Gabriel worth the money that the financially prudent Wenger is forking out?

Let's Say Hello

Name: Gabriel Armando de Abreu
Birth: 26.11.1990 - five months after Argentina dumped Brazil out of the World Cup in 1990.
Born in: São Paulo, Brazil  
Age: 24
Height: 1.87 m / 6' 2"
Weight: 159 pounds
Details: Right-footed, right-sided central defender

Gabriel started his youth career at the set-up of Salvador based club, Esporte Clube Vitoria. He made his debut at the age of 19, against Flamengo in 2010. Paulista helped Vitoria to the 2013 Campeonato Baiano title three years later. He was utilised on the left and right hand side of a three-man backline, which seems to be in vogue across Europe in recent months. He was elected the best central defender of the tournament. He made 77 appearances in 3 years with Vitoria, scoring 1 goal along the way.

After moving to Villareal, Marcelino Garcia Toral slowly eased him into the side last year, making his debut against Atletico Madrid at El Madrigal. He has made 37 appearances for Villareal since signing for them.He has firmly established himself and been ever-present during the current campaign, playing in 19 La Liga games and helping the Spanish club to a 15-game unbeaten run, while picking up 20 of the last 24 points.  They've also made it to the Copa del Ray QFs.


Style of Play

Gabriel is versatile, as is evident from his early days at Vitoria. Despite being right footed, he has played at left back on two occasions for Villareal. He has 'built a glowing reputation as a powerful, pacy, ball-playing central defender who reads the game brilliantly, is strong in the air and capable of man-marking if required.'

It was expected that his career path will follow a trajectory akin to David Luiz when he arrived on European shores. That is not to say that he has a similar style of play. If anything, he's said to be a 'nastier version of Luiz's Brazilian colleague at PSG, Marquinhos', given the similarities in their height and build.

Strengths

Gabriel attacks the ball aggressively, routinely forcing turnovers and breaking up play. He also has a good recovery speed. He has an excellent ariel ability, which should ease the transition to the physicalities of the Premier League. He's quick with both his legs and his head.

In the game against Espanyol earlier this season, it was impressive to see how well he read the game, predicted situations and killed off attacks.

Describing himself last season, he's quoted to have said: "It's difficult to speak about yourself, but people around me say I'm really quick and good in the air. They also say I have a really good capacity to recover, both on and off the pitch. But I still want to grow. I can still improve a lot."


Weaknesses

There have been some noises about Lovren-esque mistakes. While an in-form Gabriel 'Dominates the game aerially, on the ground and is a passing outlet from the back', he can be 'Sebastien Squillaci-like centre-back with a touch of Andre Santos at left-back' when out of form (source)

Despite his ariel prowess, there seem to be some issues with facing stronger forwards - he would have to hit the gym for a bit to beef up.

Here's Some Harsh Critique of some of his Performances:

Comparing with our Current Options

He has accumulated more interceptions in league play (66) than Calum Chambers (35), Laurent Koscielny (43), Nacho Monreal (46) and Per Mertesacker (45). On a per game basis, he makes 3.5 interceptions, to 1.9 (Chambers), 3.6 (Koscielny), 2.9 (Monreal), and 2.1 (Mertesacker).



Quoting Eursport:
Only Mertesacker has won more aerial duels than him out of Arsenal's current central defenders, which is largely due to his 6' 5'' frame.
That fact that he averages more interceptions than Koscielny this season is remarkable given the consistency the Frenchman has shown in that area. Last season, no defender from the top seven Premier League clubs completed more interceptions than Arsenal's number six - a key feature to his game.
With a similar style of defending to Koscielny and standing at identical heights, you have to wonder whether the two will form a complimentary partnership. Mertesacker's lack of pace but impressive aerial ability work in tandem with Koscielny's agility and proactive defending.
However, with the German showing signs of waning this season, Wenger maybe preparing a contingency plan, by having a proactive pairing of Koscielny and Gabriel. This may allow the Gunners to play the high intensity pressing game Wenger has longed for, aided by a defence able to hold a high line with recovery pace to fall back on.


Expert Talk

“Gabriel needs to develop at the club, he is raw, but talented” - Spanish football expert Graham Hunter to Revista de la Liga.

"Gabriel is a very good centre-back. He is very important in Villarreal, so I understand [why] Villarreal want [Arsenal to pay the buyout clause]." - former Barcelona and Chelsea defender Albert Ferrer to Revista de La Liga. 


Next Steps

The one hurdle we still have to get over is getting the lad a work permit. As he is uncapped for Brazil, we have to appear in front of an appeals panel and make our case for painting a rosy picture of what a special talent Gabriel is. There are some positives here though.

Gabriel averages more interceptions per game (3.5) than Real Madrid centre-back Sergio Ramos (3.0) and only just behind Koscielny (3.6). He has also registered the most interceptions in the UEFA Europa League with 32 in six games. Starting 18 of 19 La Liga games, Gabriel has enhanced Villarreal's defence, which has conceded less goals (17) than reigning league champions Atletico Madrid (18) this season. Something definitely counts as special in there.

Incidentally, Chelsea used the exceptional talent clause to sign Willian from Anzhi Makhachkala. There is definitely hope


My Verdict

The lad's quotes give me an impression that he has a mature head. He seems diligent and, for the sake of no better word, humble.

Seems a rather good buy, although he needs to grow and settle in. Eventually, he can go on to take up the reins from the incumbents and hopefully, also go on to become a Arsenal legend.

Bem-vindo à sua casa nova!