The reason Arsenal refused to sell a forward they were open to letting go at the start of the summer has been revealed, as a rival director has taken aim at their conservative business.
The Gunners signed eight players, saw six leave permanently and loaned five out this summer. It was a busy transfer window by their standards, and that underlines their desire to finally win the Premier League after three consecutive second-placed finishes.
But despite two new players joining who can play on the left wing – Noni Madueke and Eberechi Eze – and Arsenal initially being open to letting Gabriel Martinelli go, they didn’t.
Indeed, the Daily Mail reports that at the start of the summer, the north London club were open to selling Martinelli, but they valued him at £60million and interest only reached £40million.
They were deterred from selling him as a result, as they did not want his potential sale to turn into a long-running saga.
But the outlet reports a rival director has told them that Arsenal are victims of overpaying for players and holding onto others for too long – but it’s felt Andrea Berta will be more mindful of his predecessor Edu in allowing contracts to run close to their final years.
That suggests Martinelli could be sold soon, and it’s felt a lack of sales is the main area which stopped Arsenal’s summer business from being perfect.
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Director slams previous Arsenal business
Conservative sale decisions and overpayments from Arsenal in the past have been slammed by the rival director.
He cited the £72million signing of Nicolas Pepe and the snare of Oleksandr Zinchenko from rivals Manchester City as clear examples of overpayments in recent seasons.
He added that Reiss Nelson, Albert Sambi Lokonga, Thomas Partey, Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang could all have been sold sooner and at higher value.
Nelson has just embarked on his second loan away from Arsenal in as many seasons, suggesting he’s surplus to requirements, yet the Gunners have not decided to sell the winger, whose contract is up in 2027.
Arsenal round-up: Gunners completed deadline day deals
The Gunners were busy completing deals both in and out on deadline day.
Through the door came defender Piero Hincapie, from Bayer Leverkusen.
In terms of outgoings, they saw Sambi Lokonga, Fabio Vieira, Jakub Kiwior and Lucas Nygaard leave.
Those deals are a mixture of loans, permanent exits and loans with obligation for a permanent move at the end.
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