When reports surfaced that Arsenal are about signing Gabriel Paulista, some thought it was just one of those many speculations we hear of whenever transfer activities are on.
Arsene Wenger has this morning given us an update on the deal. This shows that the news we saw earlier today was true afterall. Our manager stated that the club is really in talks to sign the Villareal man but revealed that the only problem on ground now is how to secure a work permit for the defender if the deal eventually goes through.
The 24-year-old Brazillian star has never played for his national team and for this reason has not met the minimum requirement for a work permit but Arsene Wenger says he and the club will strive hard to seal the move this month.
“We are talking at the moment. Can we find an agreement or not? I don’t know. We are slowly progressing but there’s a chance,” the manager said.
“We are ready to pay the price we think is right for a good player, no matter what the price is. If we think it’s the right price we will pay.
“[The deal is] 50-50 at this moment. We respect the rules in England - when you buy a player who does not fulfil the criteria and needs a work permit, you go in front of a commission and they tell you yes or no. We will accept that.”
The rules governing work permit acquisition are due to change this summer so any player that costs more than £10million will not need a work permit and the Frenchman admits that could have an effect on the deal.
“First of all I don’t really understand the logic of this rule,” he said. “[I don’t understand] the logic that the availability of the work permit is linked exactly with the amount of money you spend. It should be linked with the quality of the players only.
“Secondly we want the player. If a player we want needs a work permit then we’ll [do] it now because we will not necessarily want to do it in the summer. We are short at the moment so no matter what the rules are, we have to do it now.”
With the words of our manager it is clear that he is not ready to take chances anymore. He knows what the team lacks and is ready to provide to fill the void.
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