The Gunners star picked up the hamstring injury during the first half of their 2-1 victory over Fulham in the Premier League on Tuesday evening.
Gabriel will now miss the rest of the Premier League run-in, while Arsenal are also competing to win the Champions League with a two-legged quarterfinal against Real Madrid beginning next week.
Reacting to the injury after the match, Arteta told reporters: “Worried because he never wants to come off and he had to.
“He’s not very sure how big it is and what it is exactly but he felt that he could not continue.”
When asked if Gabriel will be fit to face Real Madrid in the Champions League next week, Arteta replied: “Depends, there’s a week there but I will say with the way he is normally… difficult.”
Transfer expert Fabrizio Romano brought the bad news onto social media yesterday by confirming the Arsenal centre-back will be out for the rest of the season.
Romano wrote on X: “Gabriel Magalhaes will be out until the end of the season. Gabriel requires surgery on his hamstring injury and will be out until the start of next season.”
Before Arsenal officially confirmed the news, the Premier League club wrote: “Further to being substituted during our match against Fulham on Tuesday, we can confirm that Gabriel Magalhaes has sustained a hamstring injury which requires surgery.
“Gabi will undergo a surgical repair procedure to his hamstring in the coming days, and immediately begin his recovery and rehabilitation programme, to be ready for the start of next season.
“Everyone at the club will be fully focused on supporting Gabi to ensure he is back to full fitness as soon as possible.”
Reacting to Gabriel’s injury and potentially facing Real Madrid without the Brazilian, Arsenal legend Ian Wright told Premier League Productions on Tuesday: “It’s a massive miss.’’
“It’s just as big in terms (against Fulham), there’s a couple of positional moves that you just cannot afford to do when you play against Real Madrid.
“They are looking for any chink in the armour to exploit, so you need people who are absolutely bang on it, to be able to keep Real Madrid to no goals at home. If Gabi Magalhaes was there I would feel more confident about that.”
