Opinion: Arsenal should sign ‘outstanding' £50m star from London rivals to replace 25-year old

Arsenal centre-back Gabriel Magalhães is being heavily linked with a move to Saudi Arabia this summer.

However, the Daily Mail has claimed that the Gunners will only allow the 25-year-old to leave the Emirates if Mikel Arteta can find a replacement who is better than the Brazilian.

That won’t be easy to do – Gabriel was outstanding for Arsenal last season. Before the last two games, he started 73 consecutive matches for the north London outfit. So Arteta is clearly a big fan of the former Lille defender.

Signed for £27 million from the Ligue 1 side in the summer of 2020 (Sky Sports), the towering centre-back has gone on to be a huge hit at the Emirates. If Arsenal were to sell him, it would surely be for at at least double the amount they paid for him three years ago.

One name who has been mentioned as a potential replacement for Gabriel is Crystal Palace defender Marc Guehi. And in my opinion, the 23-year-old Palace star is the only realistic signing the Gunners could make this summer good enough to replace Gabriel…

In my view, Marc Guehi is probably the only centre-back who is actually available this summer who could come in and be seen as an improvement upon Gabriel.

Football.London recently claimed that Guehi is valued at £50 million at the very least by Crystal Palace. So he certainly won’t come cheap.

However, if Arsenal manage to sell Gabriel for more than that amount, and bring in the 23-year-old, I would suggest that it would actually be good business from the club, as much as the South American is a hugely popular figure in north London.

Described by London News as an ‘outstanding’ defender with the world at his feet, Guehi certainly has unbelievable ability and he has already established himself as one of the best Premier League centre-backs.He is incredibly quick along the ground, strong in the air and in the tackle and reads the game exceptionally well for someone so young. 

I actually think that Marc Guehi could form a really strong partnership with William Saliba at the Emirates. It would be sad to see Gabby leave, but if Arsenal could sell him and sign Guehi for a profit then it’s a deal that has to be done.