Arsenal are closing in on the sale of Gabriel Martinelli for over 50m, with the two clubs communicating strongly about a deal for the Brazilian.
Talks were said to take place internally, and the deal was viewed optimistically as reaching completion, as a new record transfer fee would break the previously stated fee for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (35m to Liverpool in 2017) if they secured over 50m for Martinelli.
The Gunners already have an option to extend his contract by a year, although he still has one year to run on his current deal.
He was used throughout pre-season, but wasn’t selected in the match-day squad for the Community Shield against City and their opening Premier League fixture of the season versus Coventry.
His limited first-team involvement has further fueled the speculation, as Al Hilal look to sign their man and are following up their previous interest after Galatasaray tried earlier. Mikel Arteta did hold conversations with the striker about him being omitted from squads.
Last season, the Brazilian was used as an impact substitution the year the Gunners won the Premier League, and whilst he only registered 1 league goal and 4 assists, he proved far more successful in Europe, netting 6 times throughout the Champions League group stages. In total last term, the 25-year-old contributed 18 goals this year, one behind the next 3 highest goal contributions at Arsenal (Viktor Gyokeres, Bukayo Saka and Leandro Trossard).
Considering Christos Tzolis has been brought in, and Trossard has moved on, Martinelli probably wouldn’t have played as significant a role, and Arsenal have brought in options, such as Eberechi Eze for the wing, and there are also suggestions of Noni Madueke coming in from Chelsea.
