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“Trust me” Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta finally reveals why Gabriel is dropped

Kian Long
Kian Long

The Top Flight

Arsenal's Gabriel Magalhaes (Photo by Marc Atkins/Getty Images)

Arsenal have had a good start to the season, picking up all of six available points. As they seek to win the Premier League title this season, it’s winning games like last night which matter. For those who didn’t watch the game, Arsenal were down to ten men but still managed to pick up three points, despite relentless pressure from Crystal Palace.

As good as this campaign has been so far, though, there is one element of confusion from the fans’ perspective. Indeed, I think the entire FPL community also share this confusion and that is why Gabriel has been dropped all of a sudden.

The Brazil international has been on the bench for the opening two fixtures, even favoured behind Takehiro Tomiyasu last night. This, in hindsight, may be a regret for Arteta, but it wasn’t too costly thankfully.

The Spanish boss has finally spoken about the situation, though, reassuring fans that there is nothing to worry about. Of course, given the speculation which links Gabriel away from the club (with Real Madrid and Saudi Arabian clubs interested), it’s easy to assume Gabriel is dropped because he’s due to leave.

But that’s not the case. We already reported that Arsenal would not put Gabriel up for sale to any club, but Arteta has reaffirmed that notion.

Mikel Arteta finally speaks about Gabriel being dropped from Arsenal

Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano has reported on Mikel Arteta’s comments, claiming that Gabriel has been left out for tactical reasons only and that “Gabriel is gonna play a lot of games”. Phew.

What do you make of Gabriel being dropped at the start of this season?

Kian Long

Kian Long

Kian Long is the Editorial Director for FanSided's Soccer Division and a sports fan his entire life. Kian has been part of the FanSided team since 2017 and has both written and edited thousands of articles across the division. When he's not watching soccer, Kian is probably watching WWE, throwing darts, or telling his cats to quit scratching the couch. Reach out to Kian at kian.long@fansided.com