Arsenal Latest Transfer Rumor

Arsenal are set to be on the verge of signing central defender Gabriel Paullista from the Spanish side Villareal CF says the English media. The club, Villareal CF, have announced that they have “reached agreement in principle with Arsenal for the sale of the centre-back Gabriel Paulista, with the forward Joel Campbell heading to the Spanish club on loan for the rest of the season”.

The deal is said to be somewhere in the range of £10m to £11m with some additional add – ons also. The only problem that Arsenal face now is regarding that of getting a work permit for Gabriel, who is a Brazilian by birth, as per the latest International criteria. Here are the two rules, as per International bodies, which must be fulfilled in order to get a work permit :

• A player must have played for his country in at least 75% of its competitive A team matches of which he was available for selection, during the two years preceding the date of the application
• The player’s country must be at or above 70 place in the official FIFA world rankings when averaged over the two years preceding the date of the application

Sadly for Arsenal, Gabriel hasn’t played a single match for Brazil yet and hence Arsenal have to convince the FA that Gabriel is an “exceptional talent”.

Arsene Wenger has said to The Guardian that it would be a gamble not to bring in a new defender this month. “So if we have another injury or two we will struggle. It is risky (not to sign anyone) – too risky,” the manager said.

The 24 year old Brazilian is said to be a promising player with his best years still ahead of him and his playing position is exactly what Arsenal have been wanting to fill up for some time now.