Gabriel Magalhaes has revealed a phone call from Mikel Arteta convinced him Arsenal was the right club for him to join.
The defender had decided to leave Lille this summer and he was duly the subject of big speculation from around Europe.
Everton and Napoli made moves for the 22-year-old, while Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain showed an interest in him too.
But Gabriel elected to join Arsenal in the end for a fee of around £26million and the Brazilian has revealed Arteta played a key role.
“[Edu and I] had several chats about Arsenal and the new project, we had many good conversations,’ Gabriel told Arsenal Digital.
“As the days went by I was getting very excited about it, then I had a call from the coach and that was very reassuring.
“Having the coach himself calling you to say he wants you in his squad motivates you a lot. That is the very reason I am here today.
“We did not talk about [details], he just told me he is aware of my quality, my capacity and how far I can go. He also said he will be very demanding with me.
"I know he is a great coach and I will make progress with his help.”
