13:46
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| Gabriel Paulista say farewell to the Villarreal fans as he is given a yellow submarine as a farewell present |
Arsene
Wenger has confirmed Gabriel Paulista's switch to Arsenal from Villarreal is
expected to be completed Today before FA Cup drawal.
The
Gunners have agreed a £13.5million deal to take the Brazilian and despite
initials fears regarding a work permit for the Brazilian, the Arsenal boss is
confident the move will go through on Monday.
Speaking
after the Gunners' 3-2 FA Cup victory over Brighton, Arsenal boss Wenger
confirmed to BT Sport: 'They (the reports) are accurate. It is very, very close
and it should be done tomorrow.'
Arsenal
have agreed a deal understood to worth £13.5million to sign the Villarreal
central defender Gabriel Paulista.
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| Villarreal Website |
Although
there was no confirmation from the Premier League club an announcement was made
by Villarreal who stated that they would be taking the Arsenal striker Joel
Campbell on loan for the rest of the season.
It
is unclear as to whether Arsenal have resolved the issue of whether or not
Gabriel would receive a work permit but the scale of the fee would help their
case in arguing the Brazilian - who does not have any international caps -
should be allowed to play because he is a special talent.
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| Joel Campbell |
Gabriel
is 24 and has been identified by Arsene Wenger as a versatile player to help
improve his team's defensive options. It had been thought that Arsenal would
not pay more than £10 million, having initially offered £6 million, for Gabriel
who has a buy-out clause of just over £15 million but sources in Spain indicate
they have agreed a larger fee although they will recoup some money for the loan
of Costan Rican striker Campbell.
