Manchester United again linked to Lille defender Gabriel

Manchester United have once again been linked to Lille central defender Gabriel Gabriel Magalhaes.

Reports this weekend suggested that United have asked to be kept informed by Lille of any bids made for the Brazilian, who played for Avai in Brazil before making his way to Europe.

A loan spell in Croatia with Dinamo Zagreb in 2018, and one with Troyes the year before that in 2017, proves that I have read his Wikipedia page.

The 22-year-old had impressed with Lille this season until the curtailment of the French league due to the coronavirus pandemic, but he was part of an effort that saw the club reach fourth place until lockdown began.

United have been linked with a 29 million euro transfer for the player, but he is attracting interest from across Europe. There is interest from Napoli, Everton, Chelsea and Arsenal, but while Everton appeared to be an early favourite for his signature they have fallen away.

Manchester United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is known to be interested in adding another central defender to the squad, after losing faith in some of his back line. Diogo Dalot has barely featured since the resumption of the Premier League, and Timothy Fosu-Mensah was preferred ahead of Phil Jones at other times.

Marcos Rojo’s loan spell at Estudiantes suggests that the club would be happy for him to find a permanent deal elsewhere, and Chris Smalling’s loan to Roma has been successful enough that both his current club, his parent club, and the player all want to negotiate a permanent deal.

Victor Lindelof’s inconsistent form has done little to suggest that he is a viable long-term partner for Harry Maguire, which means that Gabriel could be brought into the side with the expectation that he would start for the team from the start of next season.