Gabriel Martinelli has missed out on Arsenal’s two matchday squads this season, and he is now closing in on leaving the club as Al Hilal speak to him and the Gunners about a summer move.
He rejected an approach from Galatasaray and insisted that he wanted to stay at Arsenal and fight for his place, but the club believes this is a good time for him to leave.
That has offered fresh hope to his suitors, and Al Hilal have now made an approach for him, with the Brazilian opening the door for the move to happen.
Martinelli Set to Leave Arsenal
Martinelli has been a good servant for Arsenal, and he is one of the fan favourites, so he would expect to be treated with a lot of respect by the club.
That has not happened, and so far, he has suffered what could be seen as some shocking disregard. One of the biggest issues is that the club never told him directly that they wanted him to leave, and he only found out through the media that he was being sold.
According to Trivela, Martinelli was preparing to play this season and was not thinking about leaving before he learnt through the rumour mill that he was being sold by the Gunners this summer.
Al Hilal Move Gains Momentum
Martinelli is now committed to making that happen and has been speaking well with Al Hilal. His change in position means a move away from Arsenal could now become increasingly likely before the transfer window closes.
The Brazilian had previously wanted to remain in North London and prove himself, but Arsenal’s decision to leave him out of their matchday squads has changed the situation. With Al Hilal showing serious interest, Martinelli now has an opportunity to begin a new chapter.
For Arsenal, his departure would bring an end to a period in which Martinelli established himself as an important player and fan favourite. For the attacker, the priority will now be finding a club where he can play regularly and feel valued.
The coming days could therefore be decisive, with discussions between Martinelli, Al Hilal and Arsenal potentially leading to an agreement that would bring his time with the Gunners to an end.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
ADMIN COMMENT
So here are some simple rules which I must insist commenters follow….
You agree not to give any personal abuse to other Arsenal fans. Everyone is allowed to hold their own opinions even if you disagree with them. It COSTS NOTHING TO BE POLITE TO OTHER ARSENAL FANS.
CALLING ALL ARSENAL FANS! Anyone who would like to contribute an Article or Video opinion piece on JustArsenal, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us through this link…
Martinelli MUST stay although it seems like it’s too late in the day for this to happen. What is going on here ?
He has been a good story, but some of us questioned captain Odegaard last year too, why not Martinelli? He probably will agree to be backup to Tzolis, but LW is the position we can upgrade easily to boost the starting 11. last year was for squad upgrade, upgrade the floor. This is is for ceiling, and Alvarez does it for both ST/LW position.
Now why Jesus is still around, Vieira,Reiss is still around, I am not sure. May be club knows they have to sacrifice Martinelli because Jesus decided he will stay!
Talksport are reporting that Martinelli is close to leaving
There are wide variations in the views of his “usefulness “ to the club in the future but Ian Wright surprised me and the cat was firmly set amongst the pigeons after that.
Trying not to take sides on Martinelli as a player, he has conducted himself in a way I’d wish all Arsenal players could emulate and not all transfers are seamless and desired on all sides. If the sale goes through as swiftly as TS were suggesting earlier then I can only wish him a bright and fulfilled future. An FACup and the pinnacle being the League title, are great achievements and he should be proud
Is the lead article insinuating that Martinelli was….not respected at Arsenal ?
He was always respected and the circumstances surrounding a good player leaving your club is never easy…..
I liked him and he worked hard when he was on the pitch . However , his decision making in the final third was often poor and his PL scoring record was abysmal….though his one goal against MCFC was a classic. I wish him well as Im sure do all Gooners.
Leave off the “respect” thing ; he is a well paid professional footballer.
+1 SueP.
He has been professional knowing the circumstances are out of his control here and he has little choice. No “exposés” of dressing room drama in the red tops or anything. He’s been one of my favourite players for years and always hoped he’d eventually fulfill his full potential with us. Sad to see him leave.
Maybe, just maybe, he wasn’t being sold unless the right offer came in and was agreed and then he would be informed as opposed to a sale not being a possibility from the get go. I wouldn’t expect to be told by an employer that I was let go until he was able to line up a replacement, etc. If I heard rumours that it was a possibility, if I believed them, then I would begin looking for another position but I wouldn’t tell my boss in advance. Life is hard.
Yeah but as you say, you’re informed directly by your boss or HR (or in Nelli’s case his management) you don’t find out via a social media post or an article in the local news. That’s more the issue here, since it’s been a rumour all window that Martinelli could be on the market and we’ve been linked with several left side players he’s obviously been aware that he might be moved on…
Somebody dropped the ball with communication big time here. Don’t know whether that’s club side or his management though .
When was he supposed to be informed? Was it when the decision was “finalized” back in April? Do we even know whether he will still go to Saudi now that other possibilities to fill his absence have taken a hit? As far as I know Martinelli had no unusually clairvoyant reason to believe the rumour of his actual sale was true except maybe he suspected that his services were perhaps no longer valued highly enough by the club to keep him. He may be disappointed in having to leave but the timing of communications in the transfer market or the non-sporting world remains harsh because the almighty dollar and competing interests are involved.
All that said, I appreciate his hard work over the years being dedicated to doing his best for the Arsenal and I wish him well in the future.
To your point – “As far as I know Martinelli had no unusually clairvoyant reason to believe the rumour of his actual sale was true” – that’s kind of right at the heart of it.
His management may have suspected it to be the case, but they couldn’t start openly shopping him around without any clarity, and we know he preferred to stay, so he may also have instructed them not to create any waves. Certainly couldn’t start negotiating any other contracts, so he couldn’t literally take a new job anyway until he was told he could leave. They also represent Vini Jr, so probably had an eye in keeping the relationship quiet in case that turned into a bid.
All meaning it’s not the actual transfer itself under debate. But all said and done, the situation is now clearer – it’s just unfortunate it happened the way it did and will hopefully be handled better in future.
Shame I feel so sad about what is happening to Gabriel Martinelli. I think it’s wrong that Arsenal is forcibly pushing him out after serving us well for so many seasons past. He still wanted to stay and fight for his place, but instead we busy wasting time and chasing after players that don’t want to play for Arsenal.
If the headline to this story has any truth to it, which I don’t know if it does. But if true, what a shoddy way to find out.
A player who clearly loved every minute he was at the club. And couldn’t sign his contracts fast enough when offered.
In this day and age where player loyalty is scarce, if Martinelli has been treated this way then I apologize on behalf of the club to the young man.
Arsenal, I hope the story isn’t true. But if it is, then shame on you.
He made eleven premier league starts last season so I doubt it was a total surprise
Hope there is no truth to this story of how Martinelli found out about the transfer. Zinchenko knew beforehand, Jesus has known he was on the market, even ESR knew beforehand.
That is why I am a bit doubtful, I find it out of character for the club and surprising. However, if true, it is a sad day, and can’t say there was any class in how this is handled.
That’s why I am doubtful, but hope it is not the case; it would not speak well of our club and how we handle our business.
Like all of us I hope the story isn’t true.
Like SueP, I dont’t want to take sides because none of us, or the reporting Journalists know the tru story and the real details.
I think Bruised Banana raises some really good points.
Gabriel Martinelli has always been a model professional and very loyal to the Club.
If he is to leave – THE VERY BEST OF LUCK TO HIM
I must admit I find this story very hard to believe and haven’t seen it reported anywhere in uk. Would Arsenal really do something this way? I very much doubt it.
I don’t think it was intentional either.
For what it’s worth Trivela is considered a reliable source in Brazil, with close connections to Brazilian players. But there’s always at least two sides to a story like this.
Martinelli is set to miss the 3rd Round Carabao Cup tie: Ipswich v Arsenal.
I’m surprised by the amount of posters who are surprised!!
Not by the reported way Martinelli found out he was being put up for sale, but that our club would act in such a way.
Ther have been various examples of players being treated in a way that wouldn’t have happened back in the Hill Wood era, no matter what the circumstances were.
That’s why the older fans amongst us mention “The Arsenal Way”
Unfortunately for Mikel, in this day and age, situations like the one with Gabriel Martinelli are front page headlines and fortunately for us, the fans, we can have our say!!
Whether this is really the way Gabriel found out he was surplus toMikel’s plans or not isn’t really the point – it’s very obvious to anyone who follows our club, that he hasn’t been treated with the respect and decency that a loyal player deserves.
I’m sorry to say that’s down to our manager and it leaves a sour taste in my mouth that has nothing to do with his unarguable success.
Well, I would say it is evidence of a failure to maintain high standards of decency and class, whether that be solely on Arteta or include the wider club management.
Communications should be handled professionally and fairly with players when there are contracts at stake. If he is no longer seen as part of the future of the team, his management does need to know that before they can start openly shopping him around, or they may find themselves and the player in hot water. If they had started shopping him openly before or during the transfer window when the club hadn’t stated they were OK with that, it would be regarded as disrespectful to the club (cq Alvarez). I just think that respect should go both ways.
Of course it should and I can’t find any instance where Martinelli has disrespected the club in any way whatsoever, even after finding out the club planned to sell him on without his knowledge.
In fact, Gabriel’s management team have said they were not told about the decision and therefore had no plans for him to leave the club.
Exactly. Martinelli and his management have been totally professional. Club management needs to do better in future.