Real Madrid determined to lure Gabriel Martinelli away from the Emirates
Real Madrid is prepared to make a move for Gabriel Martinelli in the summer with the Spaniards hatching a new plan for tempting Arsenal into selling.
Martinelli joined Arsenal from unfancied Ituano in the summer, and the Brazilian has set the Premier League on fire since he was given the chance to play for the first team.
He has scored 10 goals for Arsenal already this season and remains one of their most important forwards.
Arsenal is planning to renew his deal after his impressive campaign at the Emirates, but they now face competition from Madrid.
Star Sports claim that Real Madrid has devised a new means to make the deal happen.
According to the report, Real Madrid is prepared to use Dani Ceballos as a sweetener to make the move happen. Ceballos has been on loan at Arsenal for the season and the Spaniard has impressed the Gunners.
Mikel Arteta would love to keep Ceballos beyond this season after bringing him back into the first team.
That said, it really does not matter how well Ceballos has been playing or whether Arteta wants to keep him on permanently. There is absolutely no chance that the club will allow Martinelli to be used as a bargaining chip for Ceballos.
The backlash from the fans would be huge, they have a lot of time for Ceballos but not to the extent that they would accept Martinelli being swapped.
Real Madrid will have to come up with something far better than a player swap deal, maybe a fee in excess of £100 million as a starting point would suffice as a basis for negotiations.
