Gabriel Magalhaes has added to Arsenal’s ever-growing injury crisis with the defender ruled out for the rest of the season.
The Gunners centre-back will require surgery on his hamstring after pulling up early on in his side’s recent 2-1 win over Fulham at the Emirates.
In a club statement, the north Londoners declared how the Brazilian is now set to go under the knife in the coming days – cruelly ruling him out of the upcoming Champions League tie with Real Madrid and beyond.
The Arsenal star as well as right-back Jurrien Timber had to be substituted due to knocks against the Cottagers.
Gabriel has now joined fellow defenders Riccardo Calafiori, Ben White and Takehiro Tomiyasu on the sidelines.
His wife Gabrielle Figueiredo was speaking on talkSPORT’s Hawksbee and Baker show when the bombshell news broke.
Figueiredo was on air to promote the upcoming second season of docuseries ‘Married to the Game’ – which gives fans an insight into the happy couple’s life.
But she failed to hide her despair at her husband’s current plight when discussing his injury.
She said: “We don’t know exactly what it is, but we know that it’s serious.
“We hope that it will just be a few weeks and he will be back stronger than ever for the next season.
“Let’s see, I try to be the assurance that he needs, I try to be everything that he needs a home, for mental health, for body health and everything.
“And we hope that he will recover quickly.”
When told by co-host Paul Hawksbee that Gabriel will need to have an operation, Figueiredo replied: “Yeah, probably. It’s difficult.
“It’s not the first time [that he’s been injured]. It’s been two years that he has not had an injury at all.”
Before quipping: “I hope that we will be having a good time together as a family at home and just not eating four things!”
Pressed on how her 27-year-old partner will be passing the time, Figueiredo then stated: “He loves to play Call of Duty, so he will be there all day.”
While Gabriel will be resting and recovering at home, his presence in the Arsenal backline will be a massive miss.
In the last four years, Gabriel has missed just seven Premier League matches, where he has forged a formidable partnership at the back alongside William Saliba.
He has been one of the standout defenders in the top-flight for the last three seasons.
And he has been a key reason as to why Arsenal have conceded the fewest in the division this term – which the club also managed last campaign.
Arsenal will not only miss his defensive qualities, but also his threat from set pieces.
He has found the back of the net on five occasions this term – and has scored 20 goals in all competitions since joining from Lille in 2020.
With two years left on his contract, Arsenal are expected to open contract negotiation talks with the player in the near future.
And they will be hoping to come to an agreement with Gabriel, who is believed to be on Al Nassr’s radar ahead of a potential summer swoop.
It’s understood that the Saudi Pro League outfit are prepared to offer a salary in the region of around £16.8million-a-year.
That’s around three times the amount of his existing Arsenal package.
