Gabriel Paulista granted work permit, to sign for Arsenal soon

New Delhi: Premier League giants Arsenal who had reached an agreement with Villarreal defender Gabriel Paulista, will see the player join the club very soon. Paulista who was having a problem in being issued a work permit, has been granted the same and can now sign for the club. According to reports the permit has been granted on Monday.

Earlier, Arsenal had reached the "basis" of an agreement to sign the defender with Costa Rica winger Joel Campbell going the other way on loan, the Spanish club’s Twitter feed said at the weekend on Saturday.

Brazilian Gabriel said goodbye to Villarreal fans ahead of their La Liga clash with Levante on Saturday.

"There is the basis of an agreement with Arsenal for Gabriel," read the message on Twitter.

"Welcome Joel Campbell, loan agreement with Arsenal until the end of the season."

Media reports have said the fee for the 24-year-old is in the region of 20 million euros ($22.4 million), which is his buy-out clause.

Also according to reports, Villarreal had left the £11.3million-rated defender out of their squad to face Levante in La Liga encounter at the weekend.

Paulista's name was left out of the squad sheet altogether, with reports running that a deal had been finalised with Arsenal.

With the move materializing as expected, Arsenal fans will celebrate the arrival of Paulista.

Arsenal have a thin line in their defensive structure in the team and injuries to key players have seen several make shifts. Paulista's addition will add a lot of vitality and much needed experience at the back.

Earlier, it was also reported that Manchester United are also interested in the defender and could hijack a move, but in the end it was Arsenal who got the signature of the highly rated Brazilian.