As opposed to the capital Brasilia or the highly reputable Rio De Janeiro, Sao Paulo could be described as the spiritual home of Brazilian football due to the influx of players that have come out of the city.
But only a handful has ever plied their trade in the English Premier League as the two styles in play contrast so starkly. The only player from the metropolis of Sao Paulo to, as of yet make a telling impact in England is Middlesborough’s greatest ever player. Juninho.
This just goes to show despite being from the much romanticised heartland of this beautiful game we call football when it comes to competing in the Premier League only a clutch of Brazilian’s really leave a lasting positive mark.
Step forward this 24 year old centre back who is aiming to crack both the English game but more pertinently right now break into Carlos Dunga’s national side.
Gabriel’s route thus far has been a rapid one, probably best exemplified by his brief two years in Spain with Villarreal. In his second, which happened to be his last season at El Madrigal, he took advantage of the clubs defensive injury crisis to form a formidable partnership with Victor Ruiz which saw him keep 17 clean sheets in the 19 games he featured.
However, this rise into Dunga’s Selecao plans really shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise with the defender excelling throughout his fleeting career so far. During his time in Brazil he won the best defender in the 2013 Campeonato Baiano, combining this with a Championship win.
Arsene Wenger revealed a key reason for signing the rookie defender was his impressive stats, this shows how the game is evolving as each team tries to get the upperhand – the use of statistics may well be most famously used in the Premier League by ex-Liverpool director of football Damien Comolli who used this method to sign the likes of Luis Suarez, Stuart Downing and Jordan Henderson during his time on Merseyside.
Wenger said of his new signing last January; "Gabriel is a more typical defender. He is a real defender, who wants to defend. He’s from São Paulo. He’s a Paulista. You have Rio players and you have São Paulo players. One is a beach area [Rio] and the other is more hard-working."
Gabriel had only been in North London two months when Dunga included him in his squad for the first time for a game against Chile ironically at The Emirates Stadium. Despite not getting on the pitch until now and not featuring at the Copa America it is clear Dunga has huge hopes for the player.
This latest international break has seen the 24 year old make the grade for the game against the USA on September 8th as Thiago Silva misses out and don’t be surprised with his Arsenal team-mate Per Mertesacker aging that he can spend more minutes on the field this coming season and in the long term be Brazil’s first choice centre back come Russia 2018.
