Arsenal have completed the signing of centre-back Gabriel Paulista from Villarreal.
Moments ago, Sky Sports’ Spanish football journalist Guillem Balagué broke the news on Twitter:
All confirmed with Gabriel. Goes to Arsenal. Joel Campbell on loan. Good signing for Arsenal
— Guillem Balague (@GuillemBalague) January 24, 2015
Balagué was able to confirm that Arsenal have paid the Spanish La Liga side £15 million for the deal:
Arsenal pay £15m for Gabriel and Villarreal €1m for the loan deal of Joel Campbell till the end of the season — Guillem Balague (@GuillemBalague) January 24, 2015
24-year old Paulista stands at 6’1″ and has played in all 19 of Villarreal’s league games this season, starting 18 of those. He is good at picking off passes from the opponents in and around the penalty area and isn’t afraid to throw himself in front of shots.
The centre-back has been part of a defence that only Real Madrid and Barcelona had conceded fewer goals in La Liga after 19 rounds. Villarreal are also unbeaten since the first weekend of November with Paulista playing a big part of that.
Arsenal’s acquisition of Paulista adds to Arsène Wenger’s centre-back options, joining Laurent Koscielny, Per Mertesacker and Calum Chambers for the second half of the season.
As Guillem Balagué also confirms, Joel Campbell will spend the second half of the 2014-15 season on loan at Villarreal. The Costa Rican international has experience of La Liga, having scored two goals in 28 appearances for Real Betis during the 2012-13 season.
Gabriel Paulista is Arsenal’s second signing this month after 17-year old Krystian Bielik joined from Legia Warsaw earlier this month.
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