Henrik Hindby ‏@HenrikHindby 5m5 minutes ago
#Villarreal's manager: "#Arsenal's offer (for Gabriel) was irresistible for the club and the player himself. Gabriel deserves it."

Seems about as positive and clean as a transfer can get. Classy farewells, lavish praise heaped on the player and a big step up for him.

“Yes, they are accurate,” he said. “It is very, very close. It should be done tomorrow.

“He is 24 years old, good size, good pace, he is a good defender. He’s only played one year in Europe, so maybe there are some things to work on, but the potential is there.”

The main issue now is the work permit, but the Frenchman seemed confident, saying, “We will be all right on that front.”

http://news.arseblog.com/2015/01/wenger-gabriel-signing-will-be-done-tomorrow/

Great work Sri, one more of these "Welcome threads" would bring a real feel of optimism amongst the fans. Where are thou Wenger HATERZ this time?

Anyway...Da fuq? Arsenal finishing up a deal in a matter of days

The negotiators (whoever they are) deserve a big clap this time. Since the Özil transfer, we've really upped our game in terms of transfer negotiations.

COYG! There've been a lot of ups and downs this season, but it seems we're in for an exciting second half of a season

I don't know if we've really upped the game Rev.. We are a bit moer efficient and there are positive signs where identifying targets and wrapping up things quickly are concerned.

However, it is still unpardonable that we went into this season with 2 CBs and I find it difficult to look past that - especially when we had the entire summer to deal with the departures of Vermaelen, Sagna and Jenkinson. It was not like these guys left on deadline day and we didn't have a clue that they'll need replacing in the squad.

Yeah I wasn't specific enough when I wrote that. I meant that we are more efficient and competent when it comes to negotiations but our transfer policy as a whole still needs a bit of tweaking (identifying our weaknesses in our squad and acting accordingly in the transfer market or being more ruthless when competition gets stiff e.g. ) in comparison to other top clubs.

All in all I agree with you. The loss of Sagna as our "silent leader" at the back hurt us more than we want to acknowledge sometimes.

Just hope we won't repeat the same mistake with Rozza. He deserves to retire at this club and we deserve to see him retire here.

Rozza, as well as Arteta tbf.

We did a good job replacing Sagna, at least positionally, but the guy we got in ended up getting injured TWICE, and both were freak events

Wrt Sagna the leader, I guess the likes of Mertesacker and Cazorla have stepped up this season to lead with maturity, while Alexis has clearly been a standout technical leader..

Btw, I like how you've explicitly broken down the issue with the transfers.. I agree with you on the transfer policy to an extent - we seem to know where we are taking a risk and where there are deficiencies in the squad..

What ticks me off is that we take those ridiculous risks - like going into the season with only one recognized striker 2 seasons in a row, or going into this season with 2 CBs.. That's how we always end up 1-2 players short of the title

Negotiations aren't the same as initially identifying a target and making the decision to pursue them. On that front, Rev is right. We have more purpose (probably because we have more $$) at the negotiation table and we get things done now swiftly.

And I don't think we've missed Sagna's absence as much as we thought we might, we'd miss it even less if we could miss Debuchy a little less.

You don't think we missed Sagna as a solid 3rd choice CB with his almost non-existent injury proneness and his ability to single-handedly lock down and isolate opposition wingers and wide forwards?

Sagna became a third choice CB only because we had such a lot of depth in the position tbf.. And the fact that it worked is how Monreal and Debuchy ended up having to deputise there smh..

Oh did you guys read the reports of how Monreal was a better CB than Koscielny yesterday? (Of course, I blame it on shifting Kos to the right, but that's hardly enough reason to warrant that comparison)

Watching Sagna napping on City bench brought a smile to my face, I dont care if he gets big pay check or not, dude is definitely unhappy with amount of play time he got. What's the point of silverware when u play 3rd or even 4th tier. I'm happy with Debuchy even with how little he played, never miss Sagna one bit.

I think Monreal has done a very decent job at CB so, no, we haven't missed Sagna too much, if we'd have signed Gabriel or any other decent CB in the summer we'd have forgotten he even existed imo.

So we have almost signed him? Welcome to Arsenal Paulista!
Decent signing, could improve alot but he is young so he can devolp here in Arsenal.

The Telegraph say he's been granted a work permit and currently undergoing a medical. Should be announced soon!

Will be possibly assigned the #5 jersey,I guess?

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2015/jan/26/gabriel-paulista-granted-work-permit-arsenal-villaarreal-transfer

Guardian in on it as well.. Ffs I can't believe this is the Arsenal we have been so used to..

It's like a relationship of 10 years has suddenly ended with your long time girlfriend, with her magically being replaced by a sexy, rich, outspoken, efficient, well-oiled (ahem), dynamic, passionate chic. Granted this chic was top-heavy with an inverted triangular figure, but with some trimming off the top and some addition at the back, she's even more balanced and proportional.

FFS I am not even complaining that the long term girlfriend disappeared right now.

An excellent write-up about Gabriel in ESPN.

http://www.espnfc.co.uk/blog/scouts-notebook/78/post/2260512/gabriel-paulista-what-can-arsenal-expect-from-brazilian-defender?

The so-called poor distribution skills or poor passing seems to be just another way of saying he punts the ball when in danger,which is fine by me.We saw what are the perils of playing the ball out from danger only yesterday when Koscielny almost gifted the ball back to Brighton trying to pass the ball from the back.

The only worry for me is Flamini playing alongwith him coz no matter what Flamini is going to pass the ball sideways or backwards to the defence.Only then will his skills be tested.I do hope by signing a new DM,the pain of watching Flamini on the field can be banished once & for all.Looking forward to MJ's kickstart campaign.

Easy. Flamini will pass back and Gabriel will hoof it out

The King has spoken:

Transfer news: Gabriel Paulista 'special,' says Thierry Henry but Charlie Nicholas fires warning over Arsenal target

Thierry Henry believes Arsenal could have a "special talent" in Gabriel Paulista but Charlie Nicholas has warned the defender will need time to settle.

Arsenal are close to completing a £14m deal for the Villareal centre-back as manager Arsene Wenger tries to bolster his backline during this month's transfer window.

Wenger, speaking after a 3-2 FA Cup win over Brighton on Sunday, described the 24-year-old as "tall and pacy with good potential" and Gunners legend Henry - Sky Sports' newest pundit - believes his arrival would be a big boost.

"Arsene knows what he needs," said Henry, speaking at a Football Writers' Association event in London. "He obviously thinks the team is lacking a centre-back.

"Arsenal are going to get a young but polished player. I've heard he is a special talent."

Gabriel has played 19 games in La Liga this term, helping Villareal to sixth place, but has yet to feature for Brazil and another former Gunner, Nicholas, sounded a note of caution.

"He's getting better and better but I think he's still raw," Nicholas, speaking on the SSNHQ's Morning View, said.


"Arsene Wenger can certainly nurture this lad but he will need time - maybe into next season."


Charlie Nicholas on Gabriel Paulista
"Villareal play an Arsenal-type game - pass and move - but he's not a natural passing centre-back; he's a physical presence.

"Yes, Arsene Wenger has bought Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil, but defensively, he likes to create rather than buy superstars.

"He can certainly nurture this lad but he needs time - maybe into next season."

Wenger has been urged to recruit a holding midfielder, as well as a central defender, but after an inspired display in a 2-0 win over Manchester City, Henry believes the Gunners could already have found their new general.

"Before the Manchester City game you would have also said that Arsenal need a central midfielder but I think Francis Coquelin deserves a run in the team," Henry added.

"He's surprised a lot of people. It's only been a couple of games but he's shown that he can do it.

"Who knows - maybe in a couple of years we will be talking about Francis Coquelin being the guy for Arsenal."

Ffs how can we not love Arseblog

been away for the long weekend and out of reception/internet, came back to this news!

excellent work Sri...

i always hoped that Kos-Verm was the ideal partnership for Arsenal.. 2 quick aggressive technically skilled CB playing the high pressing attacking Arsenal game.. but unfortunately it didnt work out..

eventually i hope that Kos-Paulista becomes our first choice.. but atm Kos-Per is doing well with Coquelin upfront and dont want to break the momentum.. and Paulista will wait on bench as the 3rd choice..

Should be official today imho tbf fwiw

FFS I am getting tired of refreshing the .com

Make it official already.. how long these people need to take some official photos