Julian Alvarez reportedly ignored a late attempt by Manchester City to re-sign him last week, while Gabriel Martinelli made no mention of Mikel Arteta in his Arsenal farewell post.
Despite the summer window closing on Tuesday, there still seems to be plenty of drama surrounding Arsenal’s transfer activity. The Premier League champions had a busy few months but ultimately failed to bring in their top priority, a marquee forward signing, having fallen short in the pursuit of several high-profile targets.
Arsenal’s £200m spending spree
Sporting director Andrea Berta still managed to bring in five players, however, worth a total of around £200million. They include left-back Piero Hincapie on a permanent deal, back-up goalkeeper Illan Meslier as a free agent, winger Christos Tzolis, midfielder Bruno Guimaraes and defender Ezri Konsa.
While things took longer to get going in terms of outgoings, Arsenal eventually parted ways with Gabriel Jesus, Fabio Vieira, Reiss Nelson and, most recently, Gabriel Martinelli. That was on top of the earlier exits of Christian Norgaard and Leandro Trossard, which mean Mikel Arteta has a vastly different team to work with this season.
Martinelli snubs Arteta
Martinelli made no mention of Arteta in his Arsenal farewell post on Thursday. The Brazilian finally completed his £60m move to Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal this week.
The 25-year-old had wanted to remain with the Gunners but, after the signing of left winger Tzolis, was deemed surplus to requirements by Arteta. Martinelli lost his place in the squad, with Eberechi Eze being preferred as back-up for the position, and was absent from the teams that beat Manchester City in the Community Shield and Coventry in the Premier League to kick off the season.
Arsenal legend Ian Wright took issue with the club’s treatment of Martinelli, claiming the player had not been spoken to by Arteta, while reports since have indicated that was not the case. There were also reports that his Arsenal team-mates were left feeling uncomfortable at the attempt to force him out.
Nevertheless, the forward has now been announced as an Al-Hilal player. And he made no effort to mention Arteta in his emotional Instagram post, despite thanking team-mates, chefs, kit staff, doctors, doormen, security staff, media team, cleaning staff and physios.
Alvarez ignores offer
The Argentine star had insisted all summer that he wanted to leave Atletico, with Barcelona being the only destination on his mind. The Gunners waited until late in the window to see whether the 26-year-old would change his mind, having only been left with the option of staying at Atletico or signing for Arsenal, after his move to Barca was blocked.
Alvarez decided to remain in Madrid, but not for the want of trying on City’s part, who reportedly made a Premier League record-breaking offer worth £128m to land him a second time. According to Radio Marca, City approached the player’s representatives to see whether he would join but they received no answer.
The Etihad club then backed out and spent the money on signing his compatriot Enzo Fernandez on deadline day, though they deny making any contact with Alvarez’s team.
