At last we've signed a defender! Gabriel is a 24 year old Brazilian who cost £11.2million, from Villarreal. His arrival, along with that of Bielik, a young but physical midfielder, and the recent emergence of Coquelin, has gone some way to addressing the weaknesses in our squad in central defence and defensive midfield. Having also let four strikers (Podolski, Sanogo, Campbell and Afobe) leave, our squad is now looking a lot more balanced and less top-heavy. Hopefully one or more of the loaned out strikers can still return, more experienced, to make the break through at Arsenal.
Wenger's comments in his press conference earlier today suggested that, unless an exceptional player presents himself to Arsenal, at a bargain price, begging us to sign him, our January transfer business is now complete. A summary of our transfers can be found here.
Back to Gabriel, and it seems that we could have found ourselves another Koscielny; quick, strong in the tackle, good in the air, physical and with the anticipation and reading of the game to know when to step up and make interceptions. What's more, he's only 24 and versatile, capable of playing at both left and right back. While this is all sounding rather too good to be true, this transfer is not without risk. Not only has Gabriel not got any Premier League experience, he has only played in Spain for one year, so it could be difficult for him to adapt. It sounds as though he can also be prone to the odd mistake, which he will need to cut out quickly.
With his versatility, I'm hoping that Gabriel could be able to effectively replace both Mertesacker (right) or Koscielny (left) if required. My other hope is that he has the potential to be the long-term successor to Mertesacker and will become a permanent partner for Koscielny. This hope, however, will depend upon his ability to lead and organise the other players around him, as this is a real strength of Mertesacker. It has not gone unnoticed that this quality hasn't been mentioned by Wenger, or by any of the La Liga experts at Sky or other sources - I suspect that this could be an area for development, but look forward to being proven wrong!
On to the Villa game on Sunday, and Gabriel goes straight into the squad. We need to avoid complacency against a team out of form, so that we can make the most of any points lost by Man City and Chelsea, as they play each other tomorrow.
Alexis is a doubt with an injury, and needs a rest, which makes it a great opportunity to get Theo and Özil back in the side. My predicted line-up (4-3-3) is as follows:
Ospina; Bellerin, Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gibbs; Ramsey, Coquelin, Cazorla; Walcott, Giroud, Özil
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