“Gabi showed a lot of character, you see the reaction that he had straight away. Credit to the boy.”
Mikel Arteta says Arsenal defender Gabriel was ‘shocked’ but ‘fine’ after fighting off two masked robbers at his home in north London.
The man, identified as Abderaham Muse, along with another robber, followed Magalhães home from a night out before accosting him and trying to take his keys, watch and mobile phone as he left his car.
CCTV footage showed the masked men follow the Brazilian defender to his garage – holding a baseball bat to threaten him – before Gabriel managed to strike Muse in the face, knocking off the hat that was concealing his face and ultimately prompting the two thieves to run away.
Police were able to identify Muse using DNA from the hat and, after appearing in court last month, he has been jailed for five years.
Arsenal manager Arteta has revealed that the club offered Gabriel all the support he needed after the incident in August, praising the player’s character for how he dealt with what happened.
🗣 "Credit to the boy"
Arsenal defender Gabriel was "shocked" by an attempted robbery at his house but showed "a lot of character" to deal with the issue, says Mikel Arteta.
— Sky Sports Premier League (@SkySportsPL) December 1, 2021
Speaking at his press-conference, he said: “Obviously it’s not a nice thing to go through when you have family involved and they’re trying to access your own house.
“Gabi showed a lot of character, you see the reaction that he had straight away. Credit to the boy.
“And after that he was fine. Obviously he was shocked and there were a few other things that he wanted to change in his life to prevent those things happening again.
“The club has given him all the support he’s needed to try to forget about this situation, learn from it and move on.”
The 23-year-old – who was out injured at the time after a knee injury he picked up playing for the Brazilian Olympic squad – joined the Gunners from French side Lille in 2020.
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- Arsenal defender Gabriel fights off masked robbers in baseball bat attack
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