Premier League clubs Arsenal and Chelsea have been heavily linked with a move for Lille defender Gabriel Magalhaes at the end of the season – as per reports.
And now talking about the centre-back, Lille president Gerard Lopez has admitted the player is expected to move out of France in the summer with a number of clubs interested in signing him.
“It’s true that he would like to go and try something else out. We haven’t taken that decision yet, but he’s received a number of offers,” Lopez told Sky Sports.
“I feel he’s closer to one club than others, but nothing’s done yet so we’ll see.
“I wouldn’t want to say any more as I respect the player too much. The mechanism I have in place, and we saw that work so well with Nico [Nicolas Pepe], is that I have a certain price in mind for a player, and at the end of the day it’s the player’s choice to go and play where he wants to play.
“That’s the respect that I have for them.
“I feel he is among the top five dominant central defenders in Europe right now. His statistics, which aren’t well covered outside of France, shows that his percentage for winning duels is pretty unheard of in a league that’s extremely physical.
“He’s been linked to two clubs in the UK and he’s clearly been linked to other clubs that have either enquired or moved forward with proposals for him. But we’re not in a hurry and we’re not playing right now. The player isn’t on the pitch.”
Is Gabriel Magalhaes going to be the right man?
The player has been involved in 24 Ligue 1 games for Lille this season and so far he’s had really strong records.
The player is known to be robust and is not only good with his feet but is also apt in winning ariel duels. As per Whoscored.com, the player 1.7 tackles per games this season in the league along with 3.3 clearances.
Both Arsenal and Chelsea have been looking to bring in a new centre-back during the summer and as per the major publications, Lille have set a price tag of around £30 million on the Brazilian making him an ideal transfer target.
But this low asking price means the London clubs will have to fight really hard for his signature since various reports are suggesting that Everton have shown a growing interest in signing Gabriel Magalhaes.
