Arsenal could set a new record for player sales if Gabriel Martinelli receives a suitable offer from Turkey. Recently, the "Gunners"' attention has focused on Bruno Guimaraes and Vinicius Junior, but their transfer plan also includes team purification.
Guimaraes is said to be about to join Arsenal for a fee of £75 million after the club reached an agreement with Newcastle. Meanwhile, efforts to recruit Vinicius have failed as the Brazilian striker is preparing to sign a new contract with Real Madrid.
Arsenal therefore had to switch to other targets. The identity of Vinicius's replacement has not been revealed, but preparations have been made. Leandro Trossard (Besiktas), Jakub Kiwior (Porto), Karl Hein (Werder Bremen) and Christian Norgaard (Everton) have left Arsenal and helped them earn transfer fees this summer.
Sporting director Andrea Berta understands that Arsenal needs to continue handling personnel issues. Especially if they want to recruit a world-class striker like Julian Alvarez and find a replacement for William Saliba, who is injured, before the transfer window closes on September 1.
In that context, Martinelli's future becomes a noteworthy issue. The Brazilian player is entering the final year of his contract with Arsenal, thereby opening up the possibility that he will leave the team after more than 7 years of attachment.
Martinelli joined Arsenal in 2019 for a fee of only 6 million pounds. After 278 appearances, he has scored 62 goals for the London team. However, the 25-year-old striker's position at Emirates is no longer as solid as before, and a farewell deal this summer is being considered.
Arsenal are considering the possibility of selling Martinelli to Galatasaray, as the Turkish team really wants to have the Brazilian international. If the deal is completed, Martinelli could become the player Arsenal sells for the highest fee in history.
The current record belongs to Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who moved from Arsenal to Liverpool in 2019 for £35 million. Martinelli breaking this record will bring significant revenue to Arsenal in the context that they need more budget to serve the force strengthening plan.
The ability to sell players at high prices has long been a problem that prevents Arsenal from being able to compete well with some opponents. Leandro Trossard only brought in 17 million pounds when moving to Besiktas, while Christian Norgaard helped the team earn 7 million pounds from Everton.
Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus can therefore play an important role in the "Gunners'" squad and financial balance plan. Jesus is no longer a priority choice in attack as Viktor Gyokeres and Kai Havertz are ranked above him. The Brazilian striker is also receiving attention from Napoli and AC Milan.
Jesus' contract is only valid until June 2027, making this summer a real opportunity for Arsenal to collect a significant fee. The Gunners want to receive about 17 million pounds for the 29-year-old player, equivalent to the fee earned from selling Trossard. However, as time passes towards the end of the transfer window, Arsenal may have to adjust the requirements.
We expect to have changes in the next few weeks, obviously, because we want to improve like any other team. And you can see that.
The transfer market and our opponents, what we are doing, we will not sit idly by. And we are very ambitious about what we want to achieve" - Arteta said.
