Arsenal are closing in on their second major deal of the summer as Gabriel Magalhaes is poised to complete a move to join Mikel Arteta's side from Lille.
The Gunners faced a stern battle in the market for the services of the 22-year-old Brazilian, with Napoli, Everton and Manchester United also in the hunt.
However, Arteta's side emerged victorious in the battle and the player travelled to London Colney on Monday to complete a medical.
Now Guilherme Miranda, who works for the agency that represents Gabriel, has revealed that while Arsenal did not propose the most lucrative offer, the impact of Edu and Arteta was vital to a transfer.
“Arsenal was nowhere near the best proposal [money wise]. Gabriel chose them over more lucrative offers because Edu convinced us of the project. It’s 100% because of Edu Gaspar and Arteta," he told Freddie Paxton.
Napoli's proposal for Gabriel was reportedly the most lucrative but they were putting a deal on hold as they needed to offload Kalidou Koulibaly before securing a deal.
However, Arsenal's pulling power scuppered their plans for the summer as they will now need to identify alternative targets in the transfer market.
Gabriel will not make his debut for Arsenal in this weekend's Community Shield clash with Liverpool as he is subject to a 14-day quarantine after his arrival from France.
Therefore, he is also likely to miss the opening weekend's clash with Fulham in the Premier League and potentially more league matches as those restrictions mean he will also be unable to train.
