What shirt number will Gabriel Magalhaes wear at Arsenal?

Brazilian arrives with big shoes to fill after taking on the shirt made famous by two of Arsenal’s most favoured captains

Arsenal have announced the signing of Brazilian defender Gabriel Magalhaes, with the centre-back arriving from French club Lille after signing a five-year deal.

The 22-year-old becomes the fourth Brazilian to join the Arsenal first-team ranks, with David Luiz and Gabriel Martinelli joined by former Chelsea winger Willian earlier this summer.

His arrival was confirmed using a rather unique method of featuring David Luiz and Willian welcoming Gabriel via a Facebook video chat, with the Sao Paulo native appearing already kitted out in Arsenal training kit.

Speaking after completing his move to north London, Gabriel explained how the barrage of messages from Arsenal supporters helped convince him that a move to the Premier League side was the right decision.

“So many fans were sending me messages asking me to join Arsenal, and that played a big part in me signing for this club,” Magalhaes said upon the deal finally being announced on Tuesday afternoon. “I spoke a lot with my family and my agents, I also spoke with some of Lille’s directors, but as I said, this club’s history and traditions and the team project for the next few years were very motivational for my decision to come here.”

Head coach Mikel Arteta added: “We welcome Gabriel to Arsenal. He has many qualities which will make us stronger as a defensive unit and as a team. He has proved with Lille that he is a defender with many outstanding attributes and we are looking forward to watching him grow as an Arsenal player.”

What shirt will Gabriel Magalhaes wear?

The club quickly confirmed that Gabriel will inherit the vacant number six shirt, which has not been claimed since Laurent Koscielny left the club last summer.

The former Arsenal captain wore the No 6 for nine years following his arrival in 2010, with the Frenchman going on to inherit the captaincy following Per Mertesacker’s retirement at the start of the 2018/19 season.

But despite being one of Arsenal’s most consistent players over the last decade until his departure to Bordeaux, Koscielny is not the biggest name to have worn the No 6 shirt - and no, we’re not talking about Philippe Senderos.

Gabriel Magalhaes has been unveiled as Arsenal's latest signing (Facebook/Arsenal)

The shirt is held in the highest esteem at Arsenal after Tony Adams wore it proudly from 1985 until his retirement at the end of the 2001/02 campaign, leading the club to four league titles including the double-winning seasons in 1997/98 and 2001/02.

Former Swiss international Senderos is the only player who regularly wore the No 6 shirt between Adams’ retirement and the arrival of Koscielny, leaving Gabriel large shoes to fill as he follows the footsteps of two of the club’s most favoured captains.