Arsenal identify ideal Juventus makeweight in Gabriel Magalhaes transfer talks

Arsenal have reportedly weighed up the idea of accepting Adrien Rabiot as a makeweight in a deal for Gabriel Magalhaes to join Juventus.

Juve are looking to sign a centre-back, with Matthijs de Ligt strongly linked with a move to Bayern Munich, and have identified Gabriel as a target. The Brazilian joined Arsenal in a £27million deal from Lille in 2020 and has gone on to establish himself as Mikel Arteta's first-choice centre-back, alongside Ben White.

The 24-year-old has made 70 appearances for Arsenal over the past two years, scoring eight goals, and is highly regarded by the club. However, the Independent says the Gunners would sell this summer if their valuation of £50m is met.

Juventus could have cash available, given they are currently in negotiations with Bayern for De Ligt and are reportedly demanding £76m (€90m) for the Netherlands international. According to ESPN, Bayern have offered €60m plus a further €10m for the 22-year-old, but their bid has been rejected by Juve. No matter the outcome of the De Ligt move, the Italian giants could try to lower the money for Gabriel by including Rabiot in the deal.

Arsenal are believed to be on the lookout for a central midfielder, with Leicester City's Youri Tielemans and Lazio's Sergej Milinkovic-Savic the two most frequently linked players on the market. Rabiot has made 129 appearances for Juve since joining the club on a free transfer from Paris Saint-Germain in July 2019.

The 27-year-old France international only has one year left on his current contract and has repeatedly been linked with a move away from the club. The return of Paul Pogba, on a free transfer from Manchester United, has increased competition for places in the Juve midfield and it seems Rabiot is deemed expendable.

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Italian outlet Calciomercato also reports that Juve would be willing to offload Arthur Melo as part of a deal for Gabriel. Arthur has previously been strongly linked with a move to Arsenal, but a transfer has never materialised.

Arsenal have already made four signings in the summer transfer window, but are far from done in assembling Arteta's desired squad. Gabriel Jesus, Fabio Vieira, Marquinhos and Matt Turner have all arrived, but a left-back, midfielder and wide forward are all potentially also on the cards.

After missing out on Ajax defender Lisandro Martinez, who is poised to join Manchester United in a £46m deal, the Gunners have turned their attention elsewhere. The north London side are currently in talks with Manchester City over the signing of Oleksandr Zinchenko, while a whole host of midfielders continue to be linked.

The loss of Gabriel, should he leave for Juventus, would be a big one for Arsenal. The Brazilian is currently high up in the pecking order of central defender alongside White, with Rob Holding and returning loanee William Saliba set to provide competition next season.