Ian Wright has admitted he was really worried about Arsenal defender Gabriel Magalhaes at the start of the season.
Speaking on Wrighty’s House, the Arsenal legend admitted he had concerns over the Brazilian after he was left out of Mikel Arteta’s side.
Gabriel Magalhaes missed out on the starting XI in each of Arsenal’s three opening games in the Premier League this season.
The 25-year-old was linked with a move to Saudi Arabia over the summer and there was uncertainty surrounding his future heading into the campaign.
It remains unclear exactly why Arteta left him out of his side in the early stages. But the defender hasn’t looked back since coming back into the team in the 3-1 win over Manchester United in early September.
The £27 million man has struck up an exceptional partnership with William Saliba over the past year.
And Ian Wright has admitted that he ‘adores’ Gabriel and was worried about the defender just a few months back.
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Wright admits previous Gabriel concerns
“But Gabriel Magalhaes is a player… I adore him,” Wright said. “Saliba’s somewhere else but I adore Gabriel.
“I remember we were doing an Adidas shoot and we were there and it was at that time at the start of the season where, for some reason, he wasn’t in the team.
“Which was something no one had cleared up to me. He wasn’t being picked, I don’t know what was going on.
“He wasn’t injured. But that was a worrying time for me and I remember saying something to him and he gave me a look as if to say ‘It’s fine. Everything’s fine’.”
Arsenal looked shaky at the back without Gabriel as Arteta experimented with his backline.
The Spaniard used Thomas Partey at right-back on a couple of occasions, with Ben White moving back to centre-back.
But Gabriel and Saliba have built up such a brilliant understanding and it made little sense to break up such a formidable partnership.