Arsenal have confirmed the signing of defender Gabriel Magalhaes, who finally completed his long-awaited move to the Emirates Stadium from Lille for a fee of around £25 million yesterday.
The Brazilian is still in quarantine having arrived from France last week to complete his medical and the finishing touches of his five-year contract at the north London club.
Speaking about the deal, technical director Edu said: “We are delighted to have signed Gabriel. He is a player we have been studying for a while and he was in demand from many clubs, so we are proud to have agreed and completed this transfer with Lille and the player. Gabriel is a player of high quality and Mikel and his coaches are looking forward to integrating him into the club.”
Head coach Mikel Arteta, meanwhile, said: “We welcome Gabriel to Arsenal. He has many qualities which will make us stronger as a defensive unit and as a team. He has proved with Lille that he is a defender with many outstanding attributes and we are looking forward to watching him grow as an Arsenal player.”
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So, how does Gabriel's FIFA 20 rating compare to his new Arsenal teammates? We explored his FIFA 20 rating to find out.
Gabriel Magalhaes' FIFA 20 rating
Overall rating: 78/100
Potential rating: 85/100
Weak Foot: Two stars
Skill Moves: Two stars
Positions: CB
Age: 21 (When you start a Career Mode save)
Gabriel Magalhaes' ranks pretty well in comparison to his new Arsenal teammates, with the 22-year-rated higher than Rob Holding (76), Kieran Tierney (77), Calum Chambers (76), Pablo Mari (76) and William Saliba (75), with only David Luiz (81), Hector Bellerin (79) and Shkrodran Mustafi (79) rated higher.
The Brazilian has some impressive defensive attributes including defensive awareness (79), standing tackle (78), interceptions (78), aggression (75) and heading accuracy (78).
The former Lille defender also had some attributes which suggest he is comfortable in possession, with relatively high short passing (73) and composure (73).
But FIFA 20 suggests Gabriel is lacking in speed, with poor acceleration (63) and sprint speed (54). His low agility (51) and balance (40) suggest that if he comes up against quick and agile attackers, he may struggle in one-on-one situations. but he does have impressive strength (84).
In terms of potential, Gabriel Magalhaes has loads of it, with FIFA 20 giving him a potential rating of 85 out of 100. Not only would this make him by far the best defender at Arsenal, but also as good as defenders such as Stefan de Vrij, Matthijs de Ligt, Jose Gimenez, Samuel Umtiti and Niklas Sule.
Gabriel Magalhaes is already a talented defender, according to FIFA 20, but he's got the potential to be one of the best in the world over the next few years.
