Willian: I am very excited to become an Arsenal player
Arsenal technical director Edu is "difficult to say no to" if you are a Brazilian transfer target of Mikel Arteta, according to Sky Sports reporter Kaveh Solhekol. Former Arsenal midfielder Edu has been in his current role since leaving a similar position with the Brazil national team in the summer of 2019. However, the 42-year-old now has more power in terms of transfers following the departure of head of football relations Raul Sanllehi earlier this month.
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"If you're a Brazilian player and Edu calls you and says 'Come to Arsenal, look what I achieved at Arsenal, everything is here for you to develop as a player', it's difficult to say no to him.
"That's why we're seeing Arsenal signing these kinds of players."
Meanwhile, Ligue 1 football expert Jonathan Johnson can see Gabriel being a success at Arsenal alongside 19-year-old William Saliba.
"It would be a pairing of two very good, very promising central defensive talents and potentially a partnership which could serve Arsenal for the best part of the next 10 years," Johnson told the Transfer Talk podcast.
"Saliba's season with Saint-Etienne was mixed, obviously the Ligue 1 season was brought to a premature close because of the COVID crisis, he had a few injuries as well and it was a shame he was not granted the chance to play in the Coupe de France final before finishing his loan spell, it would have been a good way for him to go.
"But he's shown when he plays he has a lot of talent, a lot of potential, he is fulfilling quite a bit of that already, he has impressive maturity for his age, and I think he would pair well with Gabriel."
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