Arsenal's hopes of signing Lille centre-back Gabriel Magalhaes this summer could be damaged by Uefa's decision to punish the French club for breaching FFP [Financial Fair Play] rules.
The 22-year-old Brazilian has become one of the most highly-rated defenders inside the last 12 months, with his performances in both Ligue 1 and the Uefa Champions League rarely going unnoticed.
That has lead to interest in his services from an array of clubs, including Arsenal, Everton, Manchester United and Italian outfit Napoli.
Gabriel, formerly of Dinamo Zagreb and Troyes, is understood to be valued at around £25million, which means the Gunners would most probably need to offload players in order to get a deal over the line.
However, Arsenal's hopes of signing the defender this summer could be impacted by Uefa's decision to charge Lille with a number of punishments following FFP infringements.
According to a report by Get French Football News, the Ligue 1 club recorded a loss of more than €30million over the course of three consecutive seasons and posted a loss of €100million back in 2018.
This has meant that the French club will now only be allowed to have a maximum of 22 or 23 players within their squad for European competitions for the next two seasons, opposed to the 25-man squad that clubs are usually allowed to name.
This means that Lille may be reluctant to sell Gabriel this summer, as the rule also states that any new signings will not be allowed to be included in their squad for Uefa competitions, meaning selling the Brazilian would mean they'd be a further body down in the number of players they are allowed to select.
On the flip side, though, the decision could be reversed if Lille manage to offload players this summer and replace them with cheaper alternatives, meaning a profit in this summer's transfer window would see them allowed to include new additions in their squad for European competitions, such as the Uefa Champions League or Uefa Europa League.
In a statement, Lille said: “The financial situation from the 2017/18 season triggered an investigation from the European body and necessitated an agreement between the two parties which the club is satisfied with, judging it to be fair.”
The agreement in place lasts until the 2023/24 campaign, the date by which Lille must have balanced their financial books.
Failure to do that will see the Ligue 1 club punished even further.
