Gabriel Magalhaes, Alexander Isak, and Myles Lewis-Skelly (Photo by Alex Pantling, Stu Forster/Getty Images)
The interest from Saudi Arabia in Gabriel Magalhaes is nothing new, it dates back a couple of years now.
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.
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.
There are going to be changes in the defensive midfield come the summer which the team is going to have to adapt to next season, so you don’t want to have changes at centre-back as well.
So for me the important thing is getting Gabriel tied down to a new contract because he absolutely deserves one.
He was the first player to really sign a new deal when Arsenal did their last round of renewals and I would imagine his wages are currently a bit below that of…
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