Paulista has come to Emirates in order to fill in the huge gaps left by Vermaelen in Arsenal’s defense. Even though the Belgian international was not the most important player for the Gunners during his final months spent in London, he still had a massive impact on the team. He captained the squad even as a substitute and has left fans angry when choosing Barcelona over Arsenal. Paulista looks like the man to replace the former skipper and all of his responsibilities. The 24 year old Brazilian who came from Villarreal for £11.2 million will have to do the number five shirt justice as it was worn by some pretty fierce defenders back in the day. Keown and Bould who both spent more than a decade at the Emirates are true legends for Gooners who were always a lot more confident their team would win when the two defensive players were on the pitch.

Shirts with the number five and Paulista’s name on them have already been sold. Some of them even came with autographs as suggested by Arsenal’s official website. According to the Daily Mail, the 24 year old is far from being close to what Keown, Bould and Vermaelen were able to do but there is still plenty of time for him to improve. Despite having a mediocre season, Wenger is confident his new defender will be more than up to the task of becoming one of the Premier League’s best defenders.