‘Very weird’: Journalist says he was told £27m Arsenal star was surprise contender to leave before summer

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Journalist Dean Jones has suggested that it is very weird that Gabriel Magalhaes has been so heavily linked with a move away from Arsenal this summer, after he was told to keep an eye out for the Brazilian to make a surprise exit before the window.

Jones was speaking on The Football Terrace following speculation that the Brazilian could make a shock departure from the Emirates before the deadline passes.

Gabriel Magalhaes has been a stalwart for Mikel Arteta’s side for the last couple of years. However, Arteta sprung a surprise ahead of the opening day of the new Premier League season, leaving Gabriel on the bench against Nottingham Forest.

Instead, Ben White and William Saliba have started at centre-back. And it was the same story against Crystal Palace, with Gabriel coming off the bench on both occasions.

Fabrizio Romano has previously suggested that Al-Ittihad want Gabriel. But Arsenal have insisted that they have no intention to let the 24-year-old leave.

Jones says Gabriel being linked with Arsenal exit seems weird

Time is obviously running out in the transfer window. So Arsenal would find it incredibly difficult to find a replacement if they did let the former Lille man leave.

With that, Jones has suggested that Arsenal are absolutely adamant that Gabriel is going nowhere. But something strange may be going on given how strong the links have been throughout the window.

“At the start of the window I had to do a transfer guide for all of the big clubs for Give Me Sport, and one of the sections was a surprise exit to look out for. So I spoke to a really good Arsenal contact and was like: ‘who would you say if they were to suddenly lose someone that nobody’s expecting?’ ‘Keep an eye on Gabriel, that will definitely be Gabriel. There is potential if this transfer window opened up in a certain way that he could leave the club’. I did it at the time. And I kind of forgot about it coming into pre-season,” he told The Football Terrace.

“And then obviously he was out of the team for the first fixture. So I spoke to him again. And look, there’s been interest from PSG, there’s been interest from Real Madrid, and there has been interest from the Saudis. I don’t think any of that is directly related to why he’s not in the team. But it does seem strange.

“With that Saudi transfer window dragging beyond our transfer window too, that’s quite worrying to have a link that strong as it was.

“Arsenal are completely now playing this down. And even this guy, I said: ‘what do you think?’ He’s like: ‘Mate, Arsenal are so heavily stanced right now that they will not sell him that I don’t see how it can happen unless it was like Gabriel was to properly kick off’. So take it for what it is and say Gabriel is staying. But it does seem very weird.”

The thing this transfer window has made abundantly clear is that ruling anything out is near-on impossible. So many of the moves which have happened have left the football world stunned.

So it would be naive to suggest that there will not be a twist concerning Gabriel in the coming days. It is quite something that some were suggesting that the £27 million player was a surprise candidate to leave before the window opened – when you consider how important he has been since his arrival.

In fairness, Arsenal are one of the biggest clubs in the world. They will be know that teams in Saudi Arabia could easily set their sights on their players. And they will have replacements in mind in case any offers come in which they simply cannot refuse.

Arsenal clearly want Gabriel to stay. But the Gunners will have contingency plans in place in case something dramatic does happen.