Jean-Louis Garcia has said the way he handled Gabriel Magalhaes at Troyes was the biggest regret of his career, a blunt admission from the coach who oversaw the defender’s loan spell after the club had just been promoted from Ligue 2. Garcia, who was in charge at the time, said he believed the Brazilian would go far — but still did not start him regularly.
The timing gives the remark extra weight. Gabriel is now one of the best centre-backs in the world, a Premier League winner with Arsenal and a key part of their title run this season, with the club due to face Paris Saint-Germain in Budapest on Saturday. The defender, who has made 260 appearances for Arsenal since joining for £27m in September 2020, is suddenly the kind of player coaches revisit when they talk about missed chances.
Garcia’s regret begins with the details of that loan. Gabriel arrived at Troyes with an old adductor injury and was not able to train at full capacity, so the staff put a plan in place and waited for him to build up. Even then, the delay never really ended. He made only four appearances for the club, far from the run he would later enjoy in top-level football.
There was at least one sign that Garcia had seen enough to believe in him. He started Gabriel against Saint-Étienne in the Coupe de France and said the defender came into his own that night. He wanted to use him again against Dijon, but that match was postponed. By the time Troyes returned to Ligue 1 action against Strasbourg, Garcia said his full squad was back and Gabriel understood he was not part of the plan.
That is the heart of the regret: Garcia says he knew Gabriel had real ability, but he still leaned toward the promotion squad that had earned the club its place in the top flight. He said he was too emotionally invested in those players, and that if he had the choice again, he would do things differently. The admission is sharper because Gabriel’s rise came only after more false starts, including a loan to Dinamo Zagreb in which he played once before finally settling at Lille in the 2018/19 season.
From there, the path changed quickly. Lille gave him the platform, Arsenal paid £27m to sign him in September 2020, and he has since become a fixture for club and country. Garcia’s comments do not change that arc, but they do put a name and a face to one of the early stops that might have gone another way.
