Gabriel (footballer, born 1997)

Gabriel was born in the Pirituba District of São Paulo. At age 13, Gabriel began his career at Avaí but returned to São Paulo after a week due to homesickness. However, Gabriel reconsidered his decision and returned to Avaí after two weeks, eventually going on to earn his first professional contract at age 16.[2] He went on to be part of the team that won promotion to Brasileiro Série A in 2017.[3]

On 31 January 2017, Gabriel joined Ligue 1 side Lille, signing a four and a half-year contract. When he arrived, Gabriel taught himself French and went on to conduct most of his interviews in the language.[4] After playing several matches for Lille B, he was loaned to fellow Ligue 1 side Troyes by then head coach Marcelo Bielsa,[5] before joining Croatian side Dinamo Zagreb, where he made just one league appearance for each club's senior team.[6] Gabriel returned to Lille in 2018, starting his first match on 10 February 2019 against relegation-threatened Guingamp in a 2–0 win. He went on to make 14 appearances over the course of the season, scoring his first goal for Lille in a 5–1 win against Paris Saint-Germain on 14 April 2019.[7]

The following season, Gabriel began to play more regularly, forming a centre-back partnership with José Fonte. Gabriel was a starter in all six of Lille's Champions League group stage matches.[8] Lille manager Christophe Galtier spoke about the defender's patience, saying "I saw he had great potential and he was able to seize the first opportunity he got. He was hungry to play, and while he bided his time, he worked a lot. He's an example for other youngsters to follow. It's a sort of intelligence to behave like that. How often nowadays do you see players not working if they're not in the squad?"[9]

On 1 September 2020, Arsenal announced the signing of Gabriel on a long-term contract.[10] Interest in the Brazilian was reportedly high, with multiple clubs willing to match the valuation set by Lille.[11][12] Arsenal were successful in persuading Gabriel to sign with them, and he joined for a fee reaching the region of £27m after add-ons.[13]

On 12 September, the opening day of the 2020–21 Premier League season, Gabriel made his debut for Arsenal, scoring the second goal in a 3–0 win against Fulham at Craven Cottage.[14] Following his performance in Arsenal's 2–1 win against West Ham on 19 September 2020, Gabriel was awarded Arsenal's player of the month award for September.[15] He won the award again in October after featuring in five of Arsenal's six games in the month.[16] Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta spoke highly of Gabriel's early performances, saying "you move him from France to here at an early age, without talking the language, to adapt to a new way of playing as well... [but] he has done it really quickly and is showing a great mentality as well."[17]

Despite Arsenal's poor form in late 2020, Gabriel was awarded his third player of the month award in December after his performances in Arsenal's 1–0 win against Manchester United on 1 November and their 0–0 draw against Leeds United on 22 November.[18] On 29 November, Gabriel scored his first goal at the Emirates during Arsenal's 2–1 defeat to Wolves.[19] Gabriel received his first red card for Arsenal on 16 December 2020 in a home game against Southampton, after being given two yellow cards in the space of five minutes for fouls on Ché Adams and Theo Walcott.[20] This was the second time in a row that Arsenal played with 10 men after Granit Xhaka was sent off against Burnley the previous matchweek.[21]

On 28 December, Arsenal announced that Gabriel tested positive for COVID-19.[22]