 He played his first senior season with the club during the 2011 Campeonato Carioca, the regional league in the state of Rio.In April 2011, Italian newspaper, "Tuttosport" reported that Juventus Football Club signed both Gabriel and Guilherme, however due to bureatic reasons, Gabriel couldn't move to Italy until after his 18th birthday.In January 2012 Gabriel officially signed with the Italian club for a fee of €2 million, though the deal had virtually been complete since 21 April 2011.