Gabriel Martinelli has sent a farewell message to Arsenal following his move to Saudi Arabia, but the Brazilian did not mention Mikel Arteta in his post. The 25-year-old completed a £60million switch to Al-Hilal, which was confirmed on Thursday evening.
Departure after seven years
Martinelli was granted a move away from Arsenal after the reigning Premier League champions signed Christos Tzolis from Club Brugge, who will compete with Ebere Eze for the left wing spot in the starting line-up. The Brazilian was linked with a move to Turkey, as well as Saudi Arabia, before completing a switch to the Saudi Pro League.
Martinelli made the trip to the Middle East earlier this week to undergo a medical to become an Al-Hilal player and was officially unveiled by the club on Thursday.
Club and player messages
Arsenal went on to send a message of appreciation to Martinelli following the confirmation of his departure. The club posted: "Forever a Gunner. The club can confirm that Gabriel Martinelli has joined Al-Hilal on a permanent deal. Thank you for everything and best of luck, Gabi."
Martinelli also took to social media to share a heartfelt message of his own to the club, though notably, without even mentioning Arteta after suggestions that their relationship had broken down. He posted: "I can only thank the staff and my teammates. Thank you to the chefs, kit staff, doctors, doormen, security staff, media team, cleaning staff, physios, and every single teammate who has been part of my story from 2019 until today. Thank you to everyone who helped me grow during this journey."
"And to the fans, thank you for everything. Since my first day, you made me feel at home. Every time I stepped on the pitch, despite everything, I tried to give everything I had for this shirt. To Arsenal, thank you for believing in me and giving me the chance to show myself to the world."
"Most of all, I want to thank my family and my wife, who have been by my side throughout this entire journey, giving me all the emotional support I needed to overcome the challenges that only we truly know. It has been a long journey, too much history and now it has come to an end."
"I’m writing this with tears in my eyes, so hard to put 7 years into words. From 35 to 11. Once a Gunner, Always a Gunner. Goodbye, and thank you again."
Wright criticises treatment
This follows Ian Wright criticising the club's treatment of Martinelli behind closed doors in the build-up to his exit, citing how "uncomfortable" the situation from his former club made him feel. Speaking with Sky Sports after Arsenal's opening night win against Coventry City, Wright explained: "With respect to Martinelli and the way he’s being treated at the moment, it really makes me uncomfortable."
"He always gives 100%, we’re not saying he’s the greatest, but he’s come up with some big moments for Arsenal in big games, and the way he’s being treated at the end here – I know they might want him out and there’s a lot of guys saying it’s time for him to move on, but there’s ways of doing that should suit him as well."
Asked what he meant by the treatment, Wright added: "Not being in the squad tonight, not being spoken to, doesn’t know what’s going on." He continued: "Yes I do know this, I know this. Not being involved in the Community Shield squad, not being involved tonight, he doesn’t know what’s happening, he’s got a year left."
"If you bring Vini in, that kind of level, Martinelli can say to himself, ‘Well okay they’ve brought him in and Tzolis, I might be third.' But if you’re bringing in Tzolis and Madueke’s there, you’re thinking to yourself, ‘I’ve got something to offer here.' So for him to be nowhere near it, just makes me feel a bit sad for him. I think he’s done enough in this squad to be treated with a bit more respect than he’s been treated at the moment."
