Reports: Manchester United held talks with Gabriel Magalhaes before his move to Arsenal

Manchester United chief Ed Woodward held talks with Gabriel Magalhaes before the Brazilian ultimately joined Arsenal, according to reports. The Red Devils were looking for a defender in the summer but lost the race for the Brazilian’s signature to the Gunners. Gabriel slotted into the Arsenal backline with relative ease and took to Mikel Arteta’s tactics like duck to water.

The Arsenal manager was desperate to add a left-footed central defender to his team who could play the ball out from the back. Gabriel’s style turned out to be perfect for the Spaniard’s philosophy and the Gunners paid Lille £27m for his services. It left Manchester United ruing the chance to add defensive steel to their squad in the summer.

According to @RMCsport Manchester United chief Ed Woodward held transfer talks over bringing Gabriel Magalhaes 🇧🇷 to Old Trafford in the summer transfer window. However, they missed out on the Brazilian CB - who decided to join #Arsenal instead. 🙌#football pic.twitter.com/RpGjZYNhV1

— Arsenal News Channel (@Arsenalnewschan) November 3, 2020

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wanted to strengthen his backline with a new central defender and the Brazilian was supposedly under the Red Devils' radar too. The player’s representatives even met with Manchester United chief Ed Woodward to hold talks about a potential move. However, nothing significant emerged out of those discussions and Arsenal swooped in for the 22-year-old.

Gabriel was superb in Arsenal’s win over Manchester United

Gabriel Magalhaes has hit the ground running at Arsenal

Gabriel had also generated interest from Napoli and Paris-Saint Germain, and his current form at Arsenal clearly shows why he was so highly regarded. The Brazilian has hit the ground running at the Emirates and was one of the standout performers in the 1-0 over Manchester United.

RMC Sport say Manchester United chief Ed Woodward held transfer talks over Gabriel Magalhaes in the summer. However, they missed out on the defender - who decided to join #Arsenal. https://t.co/zpAcYBvqew

— Gurjit (@GurjitAFC) November 3, 2020

Gabriel received special praise from football pundit Jamie Redknapp after the game, who called the Brazilian the ‘real deal.’

"He’s a leader and the way that he wants to play, and to press high up the pitch, he loves to do that. He loves to win challenges, he got booked early in the game, but I think he still kept his composure, made good tackles and I like the way that he’s aggressive. He wants to win the ball, he’s composed as well. He looks like the real deal."

Redknapp pointed out that Gabriel was a player the Gunners had been missing, perhaps indicating that Manchester United had missed out on a gem themselves.

"Again, it’s an area where Arsenal have had a lot of problems over the years, trying to find that defender, someone who can do the dirty work, someone who can make this sort of stuff look easy. So, I was very, very impressed with him today."

The Red Devils remain interested in a central defender despite spending £80m last season on Harry Maguire. Dayot Upamecano of RB Leipzig has generated a lot of interest at Old Trafford and remains top of their wishlist. With the Frenchman’s £36m release clause set to be active next summer, Manchester United could be tempted to go all out for him.