La Liga side Villarreal have confirmed the sale of 24-year-old defender Gabriel Paulista to Arsenal for a fee to be worth around £11million pounds, with Costa Rica forward Joel Campbell heading the other way to join the Spanish side on loan until the end of the season as a part of the deal.
The signing of Gabriel is Wenger’s second of the current January transfer market with 17-year-old Krystian Bielik completing his move to Arsenal on Tuesday afternoon, and the Arsenal manager recently said in a press conference that there could be more than one addition to squad.
Gabriel has been an integral part of Villarreal’s season so far, with The Yellow Submarine only conceding 17 goals in 19 games this season, only title rivals Barcelona and Real Madrid have conceded less during this time. The Gunners have struggled defensively massively this season with the North London side only having two out-and-out centre-backs in Laurent Koscielny and Per Mertesacker at their disposal, Nacho Monreal and Calum Chambers have also played in a more central role this season; although they are primarily full-backs.
An interesting stat: Gabriel has made more interceptions than any other player in La Liga this season and the Brazilian has raised comparisons to Laurent Koscielny and Real Madrid defender Pepe.