According to Cadena Ser, Valencia have made Gabriel one of their priorities as they look to strengthen their defence for next season.

The La Liga side are currently managed by Marcelino, who was the Brazilian’s manager at Villarreal, so he knows him well and it is this relationship in particular which has made the Arsenal man a target.

Of course there are complications. Gabriel is currently injured with a knee problem that is going to keep him out until August. There’s also the fact that if Arsenal stick with a back three, they need to ensure they have enough depth at centre-half to cope throughout the season.

And then there’s the financial element. Valencia have had ongoing issues with cashflow, although the £35m they got from the Gunners last August for Shkodran Mustafi, as well as other sales, might have left them with some room for manoeuvre.

As ever, stuff at this stage of the summer tends to be quite speculative, and we’ll give this one a middling 6 poos*.

For those unfamiliar: our Poo-o-Meter rates transfer rumours from 1 poo to 10, where 1 is solid, 10 is liquid nonsense.

We’ll also be re-introducing our poo ratings system this week so you can get in on all that lovely transfer poo action.