The €45m offer that landed with Arsenal on Tuesday is only the first hurdle. The bigger one is a 25-year-old Brazilian who does not appear to want to go.
Plettenberg, the Sky Germany reporter whose transfer scoops tend to move markets, was clear on the numbers.
“Galatasaray have submitted an official €45m offer for Gabriel Martinelli today. The offer is now on Arsenal’s table. Martinelli is currently Galatasaray’s top transfer priority,” he wrote on X, in reporting carried by CaughtOffside.
The Turkish champions have arrived late at the door. Their preferred target this summer was AC Milan’s Rafael Leao, and only after that pursuit stalled has Martinelli moved from admiration into an actual bid.
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Arteta already down one winger
The context on the Arsenal side is what makes this move interesting. Leandro Trossard left the club for Turkey earlier in the window in a deal Sky Sports put at £17m, stripping Mikel Arteta of the most reliable senior cover on his left flank.
Days ago Arsenal completed the £75m signing of Bruno Guimarães from Newcastle, the marquee midfield arrival that has swallowed most of the summer’s budget conversation at the Emirates. A second forward departure now would leave the Premier League title holders thin on the same flank they have just weakened.
Both Football365 and TeamTalk, working from Plettenberg’s report, described the mood inside Arsenal as one of openness to a sale. According to that coverage, the club would sanction a move if the money and a replacement line up, an unusual stance for a seven-season Emirates regular who helped end the club’s long wait for a league title.
Would he even go?
The catch is Martinelli himself. He has not asked to leave, and Champions League football would reportedly be needed to persuade him. Galatasaray are in that competition, but Istanbul is not the market a 25-year-old at his peak tends to pick over London when the choice is his.
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That is why an opening bid at €45m, roughly £38m, feels closer to a first move than a final one. Arsenal would sanction a departure only if a viable replacement is lined up, and Martinelli would need to sign off on the destination.
Galatasaray have a fortnight to test both.
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