Arsenal in Talks with Al-Hilal Over Gabriel Martinelli Sale as Saudi Club Plumps for Premier League Talent
Arsenal are in active talks with Saudi Arabian club Al-Hilal over the sale of winger Gabriel Martinelli, with the two clubs negotiating a fee in the region of £60 million (The Athletic).
The Brazilian, who joined Arsenal from Ituano in 2019, has 12 months remaining on his contract at the Emirates Stadium. Manager Mikel Arteta has made it clear to Martinelli that he is not part of his plans for the season ahead, leaving the 24-year-old free to leave this summer (BBC Sport).
Al-Hilal have told Arsenal they are willing to bid higher than the £45 million offer Arsenal already received from Turkish club Galatasaray earlier this summer (BBC Sport). That Galatasaray bid went nowhere because Martinelli was not willing to consider a move to Istanbul. The Saudi project is a different proposition — Martinelli is open to the switch (Sky Sports).
No agreement has been reached yet. Talks are ongoing, and Arsenal's transfer window closes on September 1 (football.london). That gives both clubs just over a week to bridge whatever gap remains between Al-Hilal's willingness to pay and Arsenal's asking price.
Al-Hilal's pursuit of Martinelli runs alongside a separate move for Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins (BBC Sport). Watkins did not feature in Villa's opening-weekend defeat by Brighton, and manager Unai Emery refused to guarantee the forward would stay at Villa Park — a signal, if not a confirmation, that the Saudi club's interest is being taken seriously in the Midlands too.
For Arsenal, a sale now makes financial sense. Letting a player enter the final year of his contract without an extension invites the risk of losing him for nothing next summer. A fee close to £60 million would represent solid business for a winger who has drifted to the margins of Arteta's squad — though Martinelli's contributions during Arsenal's title challenges in recent seasons, the bursts of pace and the goals that briefly made him undroppable, are worth remembering as his time in north London nears its end.
Martinelli arrived from Ituano as a relative unknown, a teenager plucked from Brazil's lower divisions. He leaves, if this deal goes through, as a player the Saudi league wants to build around — a career arc that speaks to how far both he and football's transfer landscape have travelled in seven years.
The next nine days will decide whether that arc lands in Riyadh.
