Gabriel Martinelli has joined Al Hilal in a club-record £60m sale for Arsenal. The deal, which is a fixed fee and includes a sell-on clause, surpasses the £40m Arsenal sold Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain for to Liverpool in the summer of 2017. Martinelli joined Arsenal as an 18-year-old from Brazilian club Ituano, which means his sale goes down as pure profit on the accounting books.
Martinelli's move to Saudi Arabia comes after he had turned down the chance to join Galatasaray earlier this summer. The Turkish side had made an offer of around £38.9 for Martinelli, but he was not keen on a move to Turkey at this stage. The 25-year-old's Al Hilal exit takes Arsenal's money received from player sales this summer to over £120m.
Martinelli's move to the Saudi Pro League comes after fellow left-sided forward Leandro Trossard was sold to Besiktas in July. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video player Arsenal strengthened their left-hand side with the signing of Christos Tzolis from Club Brugge, who started in the opening two Premier League victories, with Martinelli absent for both games. After the opening-day win over Coventry, former Arsenal striker Ian Wright told Sky Sports the treatment of Martinelli left him feeling "uncomfortable" and claimed the 25-year-old deserved "more respect".
Martinelli joined the Gunners in 2019 and made 191 Premier League appearances for the club, scoring 41 goals and providing 24 assists. He made 30 league appearances last season as Arsenal ended their 22-year wait for a Premier League title, but only 11 of those were starts, his lowest since the 2020/21 season. Play Super 6 for a chance to win £1m!
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