Arsenal could have a battle on their hands to keep Gabriel Magalhaes should Chelsea complete a move for Juventus centre-back Matthijs de Ligt this summer.
The Gunners have experienced an active transfer window so far having already moved to sign Matt Turner, Marquinhos and Fabio Vieira, while Manchester City striker Gabriel Jesus is on the verge of officially being announced. Mikel Arteta has also welcomed William Saliba back to his group while allowing a number of players, including Alexandre Lacazette and Matteo Guendouzi, to depart.
One player who has been integral to Arteta's cause and was expected to stay at the club this summer is key defender Gabriel, however it seems Arsenal may have a fight on their hands to retain the Brazilian's services. Juventus are understood to be eyeing the centre-back up and a transfer merry-go-round involving Gabriel could be triggered by the Gunners' London neighbours Chelsea.
The Blues have made no secret of their desire to bolster their backline this summer following the high-profile departures of Antonio Rudiger to Real Madrid and Andreas Christensen to Barcelona. Having lost the pair on free transfers, Thomas Tuchel is keen to reinforce in central defence and Juventus centre-back De Ligt has seemingly emerged as a top target.
Chelsea are understood to be willing to include the likes of Timo Werner or Christian Pulisic as part of the deal as they continue their push to capture the 22-year-old. Mirror Football understands an opening offer of £35million plus Werner has already been rejected by the Serie A side.
However, the Blues are expected to return for the Netherlands international and their hopes of landing the defender have received a welcome boost from the player himself. De Ligt is pushing to join the west Londoners this summer and could well become new owner Todd Boehly's first major signing at Stamford Bridge.
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Should De Ligt be granted his wish and secure a move to Chelsea, Arsenal have good reason to be concerned. According to Gazzetta Dello Sport, should Juventus lose their Dutch defender, they will turn their attentions to the Gunners' Gabriel.
The Italian outlet claim the Bianconeri view the 24-year-old as De Ligt's potential replacement and believe a deal in the region of £26m could be agreed with Arsenal. The Old Lady are said to be 'convinced' by Gabriel's profile and consider the centre-back ‘one of their most interesting targets’.
Gabriel was a mainstay at the heart of Arsenal's backline alongside Ben White last season and amassed an impressive 39 appearances across all competitions for the Gunners. Despite Arteta asserting his intentions to include returning centre-back Saliba, who spent last season on loan at Marseille, within his first-team plans next season, it is thought the Spaniard does not wish to sell Gabriel this summer.
Despite De Ligt's £102m release clause proving something of a stumbling block for Chelsea at present, should they strike a deal with Juventus, it seems the transfer would create quite the domino effect. The Dutchman himself has hinted a move could well be on the cards this summer.
"There are ongoing conversations between me and Juventus," the 2018 Golden Boy winner recently revealed while on international duty with Holland in June. "Right now I am focused on how I perform on the pitch.
"Once the right moment arrives I will decide to extend or to look further. I look at the sporting project. Ending fourth in a row for two years in a row is not good enough, Juventus knows this too. So being Juventus, we have to make steps. I'm a Juventus player so I'm focused on that at the moment."
