Dream signings always demand painful decisions. Arsenal Transfer News has centred on Vinícius Júnior after fresh reports linked the Gunners with one of football’s biggest names, yet the financial reality looks brutal. Any deal would likely cost well above £150 million, while his reported wage expectations sit between £400,000 and £470,000 per week, comfortably beyond Bukayo Saka’s current package. Arsenal can’t absorb figures like those without major departures, so if they had to raise the money, these are the five names they would reluctantly place on the market.
Arsenal Transfer News: 5 Arsenal stars who could be sold to fund Vinícius Júnior
1. Gabriel Martinelli has to become the headline sale
This feels harsh. Brutal, even. Martinelli still has genuine quality, but modern football rarely leaves room for sentiment when a true world-beater comes on the market. Vinícius operates exclusively from the left flank, precisely where his fellow countryman does his damage, making it impossible for Mikel Arteta to keep both happy on the pitch.
PSG or another European giant would happily sign a winger of his pedigree for around £70-80 million. That single transaction shifts the needle immediately, giving Berta and the finance team the heavy chunk of capital needed to kick off negotiations in Madrid.
2. Gabriel Jesus still possesses significant value
Injuries have crippled his momentum, no doubt about it. Slipping down the order behind Viktor Gyökeres and Kai Havertz has rendered Jesus an expensive luxury on the bench.
Yet, his pressing intensity, tactical flexibility, and wealth of title-winning experience remain highly attractive assets to suitors across Europe or the Saudi Pro League. Selling him for £35-40 million is entirely doable. More importantly, offloading his reported £265,000-a-week wages clears a massive chunk of payroll space needed to accommodate a mega-contract.
3. Reiss Nelson deserves a permanent exit
It is time to part ways for good. Nelson has found himself stranded on the fringes despite occasional flashes of brilliance off the bench. Fresh attacking arrivals mean another loan move does nothing for anyone involved. An ambitious Premier League side looking for proven domestic depth would bite Arsenal’s hand off for roughly £20 million. It represents pure profit on the books for an academy graduate who simply needs a fresh start elsewhere to reignite his career.
4. Jakub Kiwior could generate useful profit
Trimming the defence comes with obvious risks when chasing silverware on multiple fronts. Still, Arsenal are stacked with left-footed defensive cover after signing Riccardo Calafiori and Piero Hincapié. Kiwior has never put a foot wrong, but he remains a sellable asset with a strong reputation across Italy. Serie A clubs have kept tabs on him for months, and fetching a £25 million fee is realistic. Losing him hurts the rotation, but money talks.
5. Fábio Vieira no longer has a clear pathway
Things just haven’t clicked for the Portuguese playmaker in London. Arteta’s midfield department is completely stacked now, with Martin Ødegaard, Martín Zubimendi, Mikel Merino, and Christian Nørgaard locking down every available central role. Vieira is simply too far down the pecking order to justify keeping. A £20-25 million sale recoups most of the original investment while trimming another salary off the books.
Read: £80m move to Arsenal is now done!
Tally it all up and you are looking at roughly £170-190 million in raised capital alongside £700,000 wiped off the weekly payroll. The numbers actually check out on paper, putting the ball firmly in Madrid’s court.