Arteta 'looking forward' following Tottenham defeat
Arsenal and Juventus are in contact over a possible swap deal involving Gabriel and Arthur Melo, according to reports. Juventus are claimed to 'really like' the Gunners defender and an update on a possible transfer could come soon.
Gabriel joined Arsenal from Ligue 1 club Lille in 2020 for a fee of around £27million. He has become a firm fixture at the back for Mikel Arteta and this season has formed a strong partnership with Ben White.
But he has been linked with a move away this summer, with Barcelona a reported club of interest. Juve are also linked and TuttoMercatoWeb claims the centre-back is a target for the Old Lady.
The report says Juve could include Arthur in a swap deal to sweeten the transfer for Arsenal. The Gunners were keen on signing the midfielder on loan in January but their interest has cooled in recent months.
Arsenal transfer news: Gabriel is a summer target for Juventus (Image: GETTY)
It remains to be seen whether they would be open to reigniting their interest in the 25-year-old. Arsenal are in the market for a midfielder this summer but Leicester's Youri Tielemans is reported to be a preferred target.
The report goes on to say Arsenal and Juve are in contact and news could arise soon over a deal. Juve are targeting Gabriel as a long-term replacement for Giorgio Chiellini.
Gabriel still has three years remaining on his contract at the Emirates. Speaking earlier this month, Gunners boss Mikel Arteta outlined his desire to keep his best players at the club.
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Arsenal transfer news: Juventus are keen to offload Arthur Melo to the Gunners (Image: GETTY)
However, he admitted they will have to be prepared for the inevitability that one or two do leave. Arteta said: "Well what we want to do we want to improve the team, the squad and obviously we know that there's not a player that doesn't have a margin to improve or evolve in his way of playing and his career.
"So we want to retain our best players for sure and we're going to add into that more quality and depth to be more competitive. What we have to be really prepared [for] is when we're going to do that and why we're going to do that, and we can control the timings and we can have the decision-making on when is the right time to do it and be prepared for that.
"So sometimes it is inevitable because you cannot offer the same competition level as they've been offered or because you think it is the right moment to make a move. But in principle we want to maintain our best players and keep them and get better."
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