Why I joined Arsenal – Gabriel Magalhães

Arsenal’s £27m signing Gabriel Magalhães has explained in details the reason he decided to leave French club Lille for the London club.

The 22-year-old central defender who was confirmed today by the reigning FA Cup champions mentioned a few reasons which influenced his decision to join Arsenal.

For more than two months, the Brazilian was linked to a move to Napoli and a host of other European clubs but it was the Gunners who won the deal.

And Gabriel Magalhães has revealed the reasons he ended at Arsenal.

“So many fans were sending me messages asking me to join Arsenal, and that played a big part in me signing for this club,” Gabriel told Arsenal Digital.

“I know the history and traditions of this club and it is a pleasure being here. I am very happy and hope I can contribute to many titles with the Arsenal shirt,”

“It was a very surreal experience, there were offers coming from a few different clubs.

“I spoke a lot with my family and my agents, I also spoke with some of Lille’s directors.

“But as I said, this club’s history and traditions and the team project for the next few years were very motivational for my decision to come here.

“So here I am, wearing the Arsenal shirt, I will give my best for it.”

He also mentioned the role of fellow Brazilian Edu who is Arsenal technical director in his decision to join Arsenal.

The defender said: “(Edu and I) had several chats about Arsenal and the new project, we had many good conversations.

“As the days went by I was getting very excited about it, then I had a call from the coach and that was very reassuring.

“Having the coach himself calling you to say he wants you in his squad motivates you a lot. That is the very reason I am here today.

“We did not talk about (details), he just told me he is aware of my quality, my capacity and how far I can go.

“He also said he will be very demanding with me. I know he is a great coach and I will make progress with his help.”