As Arsenal prepare for the Europa League clash against Slavia Prague tonight, ESPN Brasil feature an interview they’ve held with Gunners defender Gabriel Magalhães.
Signed on a €20m deal from Lille last summer, the player talked about how things have been going for him in his first season in London and the objectives the club have this year.
Despite the disappointing campaign in the Premier League, the Brazilian claims he’s been taking away some positive aspects of the season.
“I can say that it’s not been a perfect year, because if it were a perfect year we would be at the top of the table, but it’s been a year of great learning, because it’s my first in the Premier League, I’m very happy here, I already feel at home, little by little I’m learning English,” Gabriel Magalhães told ESPN Brasil reporter João Castelo Branco.
“It’s been a learning season, which will certainly be marked for the rest of my life. There were moments of learning, sadness, but as I said, a season that will have that taste. We still have the Europa League, so we will do everything we can to reach the final, win this title.”
Gabriel Magalhães also highlighted the quality of Arsenal’s squad, naming several players whose potential have been drawing his attention in his first year at the club, and also praised manager Mikel Arteta.
“We are a team that, in my eyes and those of many too, we have a very high quality team, of young players and you see how Bukayo is a revelation of the team, he’s a very young player who now plays for England. We have Pépé, Emile, who now also played again, so we have a very good team…”
“I think we have a lot of quality and if we put it in our head like we do, that Mikel asks, he’s a person who knows a lot about football, he’s a person who helps us a lot on a daily basis, so we get more in our head what he wants, I’m sure we will grow very tactically and physically because quality we have to spare.”
Following a 1-1 draw in London, Arsenal now look for a win in Prague to get the qualification for the Europa League’s semi-finals tonight.
Back to the Premier League, the Gunners then host Fulham at the Emirates Stadium on Sunday, with Mikel Arteta’s side currently 9th in the league table.
