Napoli make their move
Gabriel Martinelli was not in Arsenal’s matchday squad for Sunday’s Community Shield final against Manchester City. A few hours later, that absence stopped looking like a selection call.
Napoli have opened negotiations over a summer move for the Brazil winger, FootballTransfers reported this morning. The Serie A club are working through an intermediary and discussions are ongoing. Galatasaray want him too, and the Turkish side have been the more aggressive of the two in trying to force something through before the window closes on 1 September.
Martinelli is 25 and has been at Arsenal since 2019, when he arrived from Ituano as a teenager almost nobody outside Brazil could name. He is now one of the longest-serving attackers in Mikel Arteta’s squad, and he is understood to be open to leaving if a serious offer arrives.
Try it for $0.99.
The replacement problem
There is a condition attached, and it is not a small one. Arsenal will not sanction the sale unless they sign a replacement first. That search has already stalled twice.
Nico Williams was the preferred option. The Athletic Club winger has decided he is staying in Spain this summer, which shuts that route down. Bradley Barcola is admired at the Emirates, but Paris Saint-Germain want more than €150 million for him and Arsenal have no intention of going near that figure.
Two weeks of the window remain. Sell Martinelli without cover and Arteta starts the season leaning on Bukayo Saka and Leandro Trossard with thin depth behind them. Keep him and Arsenal carry a player who has already made his position clear.
What the summer has already cost
Arsenal have spent this window on Bruno Guimaraes, Christos Tzolis, Piero Hincapie and Illan Meslier, and they lost their biggest target when Vinicius Junior signed a new deal at Real Madrid instead. A Martinelli sale would fund one more attacking signing. Refusing it means finding the money somewhere else, and there are not many places left to look.
Napoli have not put a formal bid on the table yet. Galatasaray have been at this longer. Arsenal, for now, are the ones setting the sequence.
Discover the rest of our Football news on MathODDS!
in your pocket.
Real-time notifications & alerts
Leave a Reply