Arsenal poised to complete £11.2m deal for Paulista
Gabriel Paulista will give Arsenal extra options in defence where they have been relying on just two senior specialist centre-backs all season. Photo: SAKIS SAVIDES/AFP/Getty Images
Arsenal hope to announce the signing of £11.2m defender Gabriel Paulista from Villarreal today.
The Brazilian, who can play centre-back or full-back, has been granted a work permit despite never having been capped by his country at any level.
Gabriel could not have received an automatic work permit but Arsenal successfully appealed through the English FA's 'exceptional talent' guidelines. Under these, Arsenal demonstrated that Gabriel is sufficiently good that he would positively contribute to football in England.
The 24-year-old, who spent yesterday having a medical at Arsenal's London Colney training centre, will give Arsenal extra options in defence where they have been relying on just two senior specialist centre-backs - Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny - all season.
Mathieu Debuchy, Calum Chambers and Nacho Monreal have all had to fill in there - Monreal did so at Brighton on Sunday - but Debuchy is out until April after shoulder surgery.
Costa Rica forward Joel Campbell, who has started just three games for Arsenal this season, is likely to head to Villarreal on loan for the rest of the season as part of the deal.
Meanwhile, John Carver has been confirmed as Newcastle United manager until the end of the season.
It is a month now since Alan Pardew told his then employers at St James' Park that he would prefer to take charge of Crystal Palace. In that time, his former assistant has lost three games (two league matches and one in the FA Cup) and drawn one of the four for which he has been in charge.
Newcastle officials met with Rémi Garde on January 9, but there were complications with the Frenchman's back-room staff.
Steve McClaren and Frank de Boer, who were also targets, were not prepared to leave Derby County and Ajax respectively in the middle of potentially successful campaigns.
Newcastle, searching for the seventh manager of owner Mike Ashley's near-eight-year tenure, sit 11th in the table and face third-bottom Hull on Saturday with just eight points separating the two teams.
Carver signed an eight-year contract in 2012 and it is believed it would cost around £2m in compensation to get rid of him and his assistants Steve Stone and Andy Woodman. (© Independent News Serice)
