 He made his first start on 15 September against Sassuolo and went on to start the next ten league matches prior to suffering a major injury on 10 November 2012 in a home match against Modena.After four months on the sidelines, Gabriel returned to Pro Vercelli's starting lineup on 2 March 2013 in a 1–1 away draw at Juve Stabia.Gabriel remained in the club's starting lineup for the remainder of the campaign, making 25 league appearances and scoring 1 league goal despite the long injury absence.