Al-Hilal expect to seal the signing of Arsenal winger Gabriel Martinelli in the next 24 to 48 hours, according to journalist Fabrizio Romano.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Romano said that the Saudi Pro League side are confident of securing the signature of the Brazilian international:
“The Martinelli deal is very close. So, the expectation is for Al-Hilal to complete the agreement for Gabriel Martinelli in the space of 24, maximum 48 [hours], because the agreement between clubs with Arsenal is almost done – around €65m (£55.6m) total package.”
“Working now on player-club agreement [with] Gabriel Martinelli, but the expectation is to get the deal done.”
Arsenal won’t receive the full transfer fee
Martinelli’s previous club Ituano will reportedly get 15% to 20% of the profit that the Gunners make on the deal. He was signed in the summer of 2019 for £6m, which means the total profit will be around £49.6m
Ituano will likely receive between £7.44m and £9.92m from the forward‘s move to Al-Hilal, which suggests that the Premier League champions will get around £45m to £48m.
Martinelli has been with the club longer than Arteta
The Brazilian is one of four players, along with Gabriel, William Saliba and Bukayo Saka, who remain part of the first team, despite having been with the club since before Mikel Arteta was appointed manager in December 2019.
Martinelli arrived five months earlier, in July 2019. He was initially signed for the club’s Under-21 setup, but he impressed Unai Emery so much in pre-season that he was promoted to the first-team setup almost immediately.
He made his Gunners debut in August 2019 during a 1–0 win over Newcastle United. He came on as a substitute for Henrikh Mkhitaryan in the 84th minute. Since then, the forward has gone on to make 278 appearances for the club over seven years, scoring 62 goals and providing 36 assists. However, despite his loyalty to the club, Arteta has deemed him surplus to requirements.