Gabriel Magalhães, the Arsenal defender, will miss the rest of the season after having surgery to address his hamstring injury, the club confirmed Thursday. The Brazilian suffered the injury during the first half of Arsenal’s 2-1 victory over Fulham on Tuesday and was substituted on the spot.
“Gabi will undergo a surgical repair procedure to his hamstring in the coming days and start his recovery and rehabilitation, and will be aiming to return for next season,” Arsenal said in a statement.
Gabriel’s physicality will be missed, however, the defender has been one of Mikel Arteta’s key players, a rock alongside William Saliba in the heart of their defense. The pair have also been instrumental in Arsenal’s best defensive record in the league so far this season, with the club having only conceded 25 goals in 30 games. Gabriel has also made his mark in attack, netting five times in all competitions.
His injury compounds a growing defensive crisis at Arsenal, which has also been without Riccardo Calafiori, Ben White, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Jurrien Timber. In addition, the Gunners have lost Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka to similar hamstring injuries this season.
Arsenal, who are 12 points off Liverpool in the title chase, are also due to meet Real Madrid in the last eight of the Champions League next week which will put their threadbare squad under more strain.
