Gabriel Magalhães

Club career Avaí Gabriel Magalhães was born in the Pirituba District of São Paulo. At age 13, Gabriel began his career at Avaí but returned to São Paulo after a week due to homesickness. However, he reconsidered his decision and returned to Avaí after two weeks, eventually going on to earn his first professional contract at age 16. He went on to be part of the team that won promotion to Brasileiro Série A in 2017. Upon arriving in Lille, he taught himself French and went on to conduct most of his interviews in the language. before joining Croatian side Dinamo Zagreb, where he made just one league appearance for each club's senior team.

Gabriel returned to Lille in 2018,

The following season, Gabriel began to play more regularly, forming a centre-back partnership with José Fonte. Gabriel was a starter in all six of Lille's Champions League group stage matches. On 31 January 2020, he extended his contract with Lille until 2023.

Lille manager Christophe Galtier spoke about the defender's patience, saying "I saw he had great potential and he was able to seize the first opportunity he got. He was hungry to play, and while he bided his time, he worked a lot. He's an example for other youngsters to follow. It's a sort of intelligence to behave like that. How often nowadays do you see players not working if they're not in the squad?"

Arsenal On 1 September 2020, Arsenal announced the signing of Gabriel Magalhães on a long-term contract. Interest in the Brazilian was reportedly high, with multiple clubs willing to match the valuation set by Lille. Gabriel joined for a fee reaching the region of £27m after add-ons.

2020–21 season On 12 September, the opening day of the season, Gabriel made his debut for Arsenal, scoring the second goal in a 3–0 win against Fulham at Craven Cottage. Following his performance in Arsenal's 2–1 win against West Ham United on 19 September 2020, Gabriel was awarded Arsenal's player of the month award for September. He won the award again in October after featuring in five of Arsenal's six games in the month. Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta spoke highly of Gabriel's early performances, saying "you move him from France to here at an early age, without talking the language, to adapt to a new way of playing as well... [but] he has done it really quickly and is showing a great mentality as well."

Despite Arsenal's poor form in late 2020, Gabriel was awarded his third player of the month award in December after his performances in Arsenal's 1–0 win against Manchester United on 1 November and their 0–0 draw against Leeds United on 22 November. On 29 November, Gabriel scored his first goal at the Emirates during Arsenal's 2–1 defeat to Wolverhampton Wanderers. Gabriel received his first red card for Arsenal on 16 December in a home game against Southampton, after being given two yellow cards in the space of five minutes for fouls on Ché Adams and Theo Walcott.

2021–22 season Gabriel played in all but three of Arsenal's Premier League games. He scored his first goal of the season in a 2–0 win against Leicester City at the King Power Stadium on 30 October 2021.

He scored the only goal of the game as Arsenal beat Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux on 10 February, and also got the winning goal against West Ham in a 2–1 win at the London Stadium on 1 May. Gabriel finished the season with five Premier League goals. His partnership with William Saliba was a cornerstone of the Gunners' success throughout the season. On 21 October 2022, Arsenal announced that Gabriel had signed a new long-term contract with the club. He scored the only goal of the game as Arsenal beat Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in November.

On 12 March 2023, he scored against Fulham again, heading in Arsenal's first goal in their 3–0 win at Craven Cottage. This was his third goal in four games against the Cottagers.

2023–24 season On 17 September 2023, Gabriel made his 100th Premier League appearance in Arsenal's win against Everton at Goodison Park. He scored his first goal of the 2023–24 season in a 1–1 draw with Liverpool at Anfield.

Gabriel scored the first two goals in Arsenal's 5–0 win against Crystal Palace on 20 January 2024. The second goal had initially been credited as an own goal by Palace goalkeeper Dean Henderson. Arsenal appealed the decision, and the Premier League's Goal Accreditation Appeals Panel subsequently awarded the goal to Gabriel. It was his first brace for the club.

Gabriel made his 150th Arsenal appearance on 11 February, scoring the third goal against West Ham in a 6–0 win at the London Stadium.

2024–25 season On 15 September 2024, Gabriel headed in a 64th minute corner in the North London derby, sealing a 1–0 away win for Arsenal.

The following week, Gabriel scored the second goal of two for Arsenal during a 2–2 away draw at Manchester City. In this game he was involved in a two-team altercation after John Stones scored a 98th minute equalizer which sparked rivalry between the two teams; especially between himself and Erling Haaland. He continued this style of goalscoring, netting headers in consecutive away matches against Sporting CP and West Ham United in November.

On 1 April 2025, Gabriel suffered a hamstring injury during a 2–1 win against Fulham, which would sideline him for the remainder of the season. On 6 June, Gabriel signed a new long-term deal with Arsenal.

2025–26 season During the 2025–26 season, Gabriel helped Arsenal win the Premier League title, He scored a stoppage-time winner against Newcastle United in a 2–1 away win. He also scored league goals against Aston Villa and Bournemouth.

In the UEFA Champions League, Gabriel recorded a goal and an assist in the league phase against Atlético Madrid. In the final against Paris Saint-Germain on 30 May 2026, he missed the decisive penalty in the shootout as Arsenal were defeated. However, he was named in the competition's Team of the Season.

International career Gabriel represented Brazil at under-20 level at the 2017 South American U-20 Championship. On 17 June 2021, he was named in the squad for the 2020 Summer Olympics, but was forced to withdraw with a knee injury on 6 July.

In August 2023, Gabriel received his first call-up to the Brazil senior national team by interim head coach Fernando Diniz, for two 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification matches against Bolivia and Peru. On 9 September 2023, Gabriel debuted in a 5–1 win against Bolivia during the same tournament, where he was later substituted off for Roger Ibañez in the 84th minute due to injury concerns.

On 18 May 2026, Gabriel was selected for Brazil's squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

Style of play Gabriel can play as part of a back three and is known for his partnership with William Saliba. Gabriel is also known for his distribution ability, generally looking to play the ball forward or to the left-back. In the 2019–20 season, Gabriel completed the most passes into the opposition half in all of Ligue 1. According to his Lille teammate and mentor José Fonte, Gabriel "has to keep defending well by being aggressive, being well positioned, and not taking risks." and the couple got married in June 2023. Their daughter was born in March 2022, who they named Maya. Magalhães is also cousin of the professional footballer Denner.

A native of São Paulo, Gabriel is a declared supporter of Corinthians, despite having started his professional career at Avaí. He frequently attends matches at the Arena Corinthians during his off-season holidays in Brazil, often being spotted by fans in the stands. Gabriel has publicly expressed his desire to play for the club in the future, stating in interviews that representing Corinthians is a professional ambition and a childhood dream.

Career statistics Club

International

Brazil score listed first, score column indicates score after each Gabriel goal.

Honours Dinamo Zagreb Prva HNL: 2017–18 Croatian Cup: 2017–18

Arsenal Premier League: 2025–26 FA Community Shield: 2023, 2026 EFL Cup runner-up: 2025–26 UEFA Champions League runner-up: 2025–26

Individual PFA Team of the Year: 2023–24 Premier League, 2024–25 Premier League, 2025–26 Premier League Premier League Fan Team of the Season: 2023–24, 2025–26 IFFHS Men's CONMEBOL Team: 2024 UEFA Champions League Team of the Season: 2025–26