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Arsenal are on the verge of signing Brazilian defender Gabriel Magalhães from Ligue 1 side Lille.
He has passed his medical at the club, and they are set to announce that he will be joining on a five-year deal that could be worth up to £27 million, once bonuses and other add-ons are factored into the equation.
Arsenal have had to fight off competition for the player after both clubs had a bid accepted for the defender. Manchester United were also reported to be trying to hijack the deal with a late bid for him, but he never got to the stage of holding concrete talks with them.
Last week, Lille President Gerard Lopez said that it was up to the player which club he chose, and that they did not want to influence his decision.
It has been suggested that a decisive factor in him choosing Arsenal, has been the determination of Mikel Arteta to pursue a deal for him.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.