Napoli have a gentleman’s agreement with Lille to sign Gabriel and the defender has been willing to wait to make the move to the Serie A club.
However, Napoli want to sell Kalidou Koulibaly before buying Gabriel and with the deal put on hold it is now in danger of collapsing.
Arsenal are looking to snap up the centre-back and, according to French sports daily L’Equipe, the Brazilian has never been as close to an agreement with the Gunners as he is now.
There is a five-year contract on the table for Gabriel at the Emirates Stadium.
It is claimed that Everton have now abandoned the idea of signing Gabriel, but Napoli are still in the chase and could increase their financial offer to the player.
The Serie A side have not given up hope of taking him to Italy, but if Gabriel does not join Napoli, he will finalise a move to Arsenal.
Lille are set to earn €30m from selling the highly rated central defender and are happy for him to choose which club he wants to join this summer.
