Inter Milan are interested in signing Arsenal defender Gabriel Magalhaes and they are planning to make a swap deal offer, as per Calciomercatoweb.
According to this Italian report, Inter are ready to offer Stefan de Vrij plus cash in return for the Arsenal central defender.
Gabriel joined Arsenal in the summer of 2020 and after some initial hiccups, the defender has formed a formidable partnership with Ben White. This season, he played in 35 Premier League games, scoring five goals.
Last summer, Arsenal had a shortage of top defenders but in the previous 12 months, Mikel Arteta has managed to gather several quality defenders so this offer for Gabriel Magalhaes will be a bit enticing.
🥵 pic.twitter.com/hOfoXkYUpM
— Gabriel Magalhaes (@biel_m04) June 10, 2022
Will Arsenal agree to swap Gabriel Magalhaes and Stefan de Vrij?
Stefan de Vrij helped Inter Milan win the league title in 2020/2021 but there are two major reasons why the Gunners will not agree to this arrangement.
Firstly, De Vrij is already 30 years old and the last thing Arteta wants is to sign an ageing centre-back. He’s building his team around young players and De Vrij’s signing will be totally opposite to this philosophy.
Arteta has gotten rid of players like Ozil and Aubameyang so it makes no sense why he will purposely bring in a 30-year-old centre-back.
Secondly, is valued at only €20 million so it makes no sense to get him in a cash-plus-player deal. Gabriel is not only just 24 years old but he’s also valued at €38 million and since Inter are amidst a financial crunch, we don’t think Arsenal will be able to make a significant profit from this transfer.
Therefore it makes no sense for Arsenal to get rid of the perfectly performing Gabriel and bring in Stefan de Vrij.