Arsenal are closing in on the club-record sale of Gabriel Martinelli to Al-Hilal, with the deal increasingly likely to go through after seven years for the Brazilian in north London.
The 25-year-old was left out of Mikel Arteta’s matchday squad for the Community Shield win over Manchester City and last week’s Premier League opener against Coventry.
While Martinelli had initially been keen to stay at Arsenal, and turned down a move to Turkey amid interest from Galatasaray, honest discussions with manager Arteta over his position in the squad have left the Brazilian more open to leaving.
Talks progressing between clubs
Al-Hilal emerged as a serious option and progress has been made in discussions between the two clubs. A final agreement has not yet been reached, with Arsenal valuing Martinelli at around £60million, while Al-Hilal are hoping to strike a deal closer to £50m.
However, talks are advancing positively and Martinelli has been offered a contract that would involve a huge increase on his current £180,000-a-week salary.
Record fee for Arsenal
If the deal goes through, as appears increasingly likely, it will represent Arsenal's record sale. As it stands, the £35m received for selling Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain to Liverpool in 2017 is the highest fee Arsenal have brought in for a departing player.
Martinelli has been at Arsenal for the entirety of Arteta's reign, signing from Brazilian side Ituano in the summer of 2019 for a fee of around £6m. He has gone on to score 62 goals for the club and, after several near-misses in recent years, played his part in the title-winning campaign last season.
Left wing refresh and potential replacements
Martinelli's exit continues Arsenal's refreshing of their left wing. Leandro Trossard departed earlier this summer for Besiktas, with Christos Tzolis signed as a replacement from Club Brugge. It is not certain that Martinelli will also be directly replaced in the final week of the transfer window.
Arsenal had long-term interest in Juventus winger Kenan Yildiz, but he has picked up a foot injury and faces a spell on the sidelines. Julian Alvarez remains the top target, though that is a complicated deal to do and Arsenal are still waiting for encouragement from his representatives.
The Gunners are willing to be ambitious financially if Alvarez does become available to them, as they were with Vinicius Jr earlier this summer. However, they will not spend big for the sake of it on players that are priced well beyond the club's own valuations.
