Gabriel Martinelli’s move to Saudi Arabia is now official. Al Hilal paid a fixed £60m for the Brazilian, with Arsenal also holding a sell-on clause, in what becomes the London club’s biggest sale ever.
The figure surpasses the £40m Arsenal received when Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain joined Liverpool in the summer of 2017.
Arteta had left the 25-year-old out of Arsenal’s first two Premier League squads of the season. Martinelli, who joined from Ituano as an 18-year-old in 2019, made 191 Premier League appearances for the Gunners, scoring 41 goals and providing 24 assists, and leaves as a Premier League champion after Arsenal ended their 22-year title wait last season.
His only public word on the switch came via Al Hilal’s social channels: a short line adopted straight from the club’s marketing.
Read also: Ferrari's second engine step lands as Hamilton eyes Monza history
“Proud to be blue, proud to be Al-Hilal.”
Al Hilal now count Martinelli alongside former Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins, who joined this summer in a £51m deal and scored on his debut in a 3-0 win over Al-Ahli.
Ian Wright: treatment “uncomfortable”
Not everyone in the Arsenal orbit was comfortable with how Martinelli’s final weeks were handled. After the opening-day win over Coventry, former Gunners striker Ian Wright told Sky Sports the treatment of Martinelli left him feeling “uncomfortable” and said the Brazilian deserved “more respect”.
Martinelli started only 11 of 30 Premier League matches last season on the way to the title, his lowest starts total since 2020/21, and had slipped to third in the left-wing pecking order behind new signing Christos Tzolis and Eberechi Eze.
The winger Arsenal did not sign
The sale sits awkwardly beside Arsenal’s actual problem. Arteta went into the window looking for an elite left-winger and did not land one. Primary targets Vinícius Júnior and Julián Álvarez both stayed put, and Bradley Barcola joined Liverpool for a reported £123m without Arsenal mounting a serious challenge, according to Jamie Carragher’s assessment on Sky.
The new signing on the left flank is Christos Tzolis, brought in from Club Brugge for around £34m. Rio Ferdinand has called him a candidate for signing of the summer, but he arrives at a very different price bracket to the marquee name Arsenal spent the window pursuing. Analysis by Football Transfers judged the window a failure for a squad expected to defend the title and compete in the Champions League. GiveMeSport put a £130m price tag on the decision.
Over £120m raised in outgoings
Martinelli’s departure takes Arsenal’s summer sales income to over £120m. Leandro Trossard left for Beşiktaş (£17m) in July, Gabriel Jesus joined Barcelona (£8.6m), Fabio Vieira returned to Porto (£7.7m) and Jakub Kiwior also moved to Porto (£19m), while Christian Nørgaard went to Everton (£7m) and Karl Hein to Werder Bremen (£2.6m). Ethan Nwaneri left on loan for Borussia Dortmund.
With Martinelli gone, Bukayo Saka is the last remaining first-team player from the squad Arteta inherited when he took charge on 20 December 2019. Arsenal return to Premier League action after the September international break.
Read also: Double injury crisis hits Arsenal days before Chelsea showdown
Read also: Record billion Seahawks purchase, days before champions' opener
