Gabriel Martinelli’s agent has said the Brazilian’s seven-year cycle at Arsenal had ended before his club-record £60m sale to Al Hilal. Marcos Casseb told Brazilian media that the winger, who arrived as an 18-year-old, departed as part of a significant squad rebuild following the club's Premier League title win.
"We think his cycle at Arsenal had ended," Casseb said. "It was seven years, he arrived there at 18, and Arsenal went through a huge rebuild." The move, completed in the summer window, almost doubled the previous club-record sale set by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's departure to Liverpool nine years ago.
Martinelli was identified as a player Mikel Arteta could upgrade after being dropped during parts of last season. The manager is focused on defending the domestic crown, which Arsenal last did in 1935, and winning a first Champions League. The club explored several attacking options, including Morgan Rogers and Bradley Barcola, before sanctioning Martinelli's exit.
The player himself had not been pushing for a move in mid-August and had turned down an approach from Galatasaray, seeing his future in one of Europe's top five leagues. However, after failing to make the matchday squad for Arsenal's first three games of the season, the offer from Saudi Arabia materialised. "Did he get offers? He did yeah," Casseb added. "We had offers from Italian clubs, we had offers from German clubs and we had offers from other Premier League clubs."
Martinelli has started three of four games for Al Hilal, scoring a hat-trick in 54 minutes against Al Taawoun on September 12. He has been deployed on the right wing to avoid direct competition with new signing Crysencio Summerville. Despite this bright start, his move came as the Saudi Pro League faces questions over its competitive quality, with one-third of its 18 clubs still winless after seven rounds.
For Arsenal, the funds from the sale are part of Arteta's ongoing project. The team currently sits second in the standings with 12 points from five games, three points behind leaders Manchester City. Bukayo Saka, the only remaining player from the pre-Arteta era alongside Martinelli, is the club's top scorer this season with three goals.
The Gunners' form has been strong with four wins in their last five, though they were beaten 3-0 at Brighton last time out. The focus now shifts to their next fixtures, which begin with a home match against Southampton after the international break. Martinelli, meanwhile, was not included in the Brazil squad for the current international window as coach Carlo Ancelotti experiments in friendlies.
More detail at si.com
