Arsenal transfer offer confirmed after €70m summer deal

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Cameron Smith | Digital Content Producer

Former Arsenal winger Gabriel Martinelli received an offer from an unnamed Premier League club before his move to Saudi Pro League side Al-Hilal this summer, according to his agent.

The Brazil international left the Emirates Stadium for €70 million in early September, becoming the Gunners’ all-time record sale in the process, and he has scored three goals in four appearances since his arrival in Saudi Arabia.

Martinelli shared duties with Leandro Trossard at Arsenal last season and despite the Belgium international’s departure to Besiktas, he was also deemed surplus to requirements by the Gunners hierarchy following the signing of Christos Tzolis.

Arsenal were initially eager to sign a like-for-like replacement for Martinelli, amid significant interest in Vinicius Junior, Morgan Rogers and Bradley Barcola, however they eventually sanctioned a sale despite failing to land another new attacker.

The 25-year-old only started 11 Premier League matches last campaign and despite scoring 11 goals across all competitions, Arsenal were eager to explore a possible sale in a bid to raise transfer funds to finance the arrivals of Bruno Guimaraes, Ezri Konsa and the aforementioned Tzolis.

Meanwhile, his agent, Marcos Casseb, has now confirmed that Martinelli received an approach from an unnamed Premier League club, in addition to several other teams across Europe, before eventually deciding to embark on a new challenge in the Middle East.

Gabriel Martinelli transfer admission

“His time at Arsenal has come to an end. It was seven years; he arrived there at 18 years old,” Casseb told Brazilian news outlet Itatiaia Esporte (via Metro).

“Arsenal underwent a massive restructuring and, last year, they won the Premier League. We felt it was time for him to move on, and the club had also seen it that way. It was a very good departure for him and for Arsenal.

“Besides everything else, he also became Arsenal’s biggest-ever sale and he still helped Arsenal make a lot of money from his departure.

“Did he get offers? He did yeah. We had offers from Italian clubs, we had offers from German clubs and we had offers from other Premier League clubs but it was a moment when I think he needed and he also wanted to clear his head a bit, to change scenery.

“He went to the biggest club in Asia to be part of a very ambitious project. You can see it in the players that they have brought in, three players who were at the World Cup, each with their respective national teams and three players that are under 27.

“That’s a trend in Arab football right now, they’re changing the way they want to sign players. They’ve been trying to do that - lower the average age of the league - and their project has attracted a lot of attention. I think it was really important now for a change of scenery.”