Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has suggested that Gabriel Magalhaes has become a much better player now after he was dropped at the start of the season.
The Gunners are currently on top of the Premier League table. A number of their players have performed well this season, especially Gabriel and William Saliba at the back. Arteta has now delivered his verdict on the Brazilian.
Mikel Arteta suggests Gabriel Magalhaes became better after he was dropped
Arsenal signed Gabriel Magalhaes from Lille in the summer of 2020 for £23.14 million (BBC).
The Brazilian has been one of the Gunners’ best players since. He has progressed magnificently season after season, and at times last term, he was even better than William Saliba.
At the start of this season, however, Mikel Arteta shocked everyone by dropping Gabriel. The 25-year-old started the first three Premier League games of the campaign on the bench.
In his press conference yesterday, the Spaniard was asked about dropping Gabriel at the start of the season and if he has realised now that the Brazilian needs to start alongside Saliba every game.
The Arsenal boss suggested that Gabriel wasn’t doing what was required every single day, but after he was dropped and forced to watch from the bench, he suddenly became a better player.
Before praising Saliba, Arteta said, as relayed on HaytersTV: “It’s about form, it’s about how you are playing, how you are behaving, and you have to earn it every single day because if not, somebody else is next to you and wants to take your place and deserves to take your place.
“Sometimes, you just need to sit down on the bench and realise things and you become suddenly a much better player.”
Gabriel was linked with a move away from Arsenal
Nobody apart from Mikel Arteta and his staff knows the real reason why Gabriel Magalhaes was dropped at the start of this season.
One theory was that Oleksandr Zinchenko’s unavailability didn’t suit Gabriel’s game, while another one was that the Brazilian’s head was turned.
Gabriel was heavily linked with a move to Saudi Arabia. He would’ve made an absolute fortune had he decided to go there, and perhaps that was why Arteta decided to keep him on the bench until the transfer window shut.
All that is behind Gabriel now. He is a key part of this Arsenal side, and unless something happens behind the scenes, he will remain undroppable for the foreseeable future.