Arsenal have faced persistent questions over their struggle to sell players when their rivals have had such comparative success
Gabriel Martinelli is expected to become Arsenal's new record sale but rival clubs have been consistently better at bringing in funds for their surplus stars
Gabriel Martinelli is expected to become Arsenal's new record sale but rival clubs have been consistently better at bringing in funds for their surplus stars
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Arsenal are set to break their transfer record for a player sale with Gabriel Martinelli on the verge of a move to Al Hilal for a fee, inclusive of add-ons, in the region of £56million football.london understands. The record has stood for nine years when Liverpool purchased Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in 2017 for £35million.
However, despite the benchmark being pushed up by around £20million, there is still frustration from Gunners supporters. Not only in why Martinelli has not sold for more, but why other clubs have been able to secure big fees, in some cases more significant fees, for perceivably worse players.
Chelsea have sold Andrey Santos for £50million, Liam Delap for £45million and are expected to complete a £65million sale of Nicolas Jackson. Manchester City, meanwhile have seen Savinho leave for £85million, Nico Gonzalez for £52million and James Trafford for £45million.
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Both clubs have brought in a combined £342million from these six deals, while the Gunners still have several players on their books who are surplus to requirements but have not yet been sold. What all six players have, however, in common is that they have moved to fellow Premier League clubs.
The inflated nature of the market has seen English clubs able to demand huge fees for players moving within the league. Even some European sides have hijacked this to some degree to squeeze more value out of their stars such as PSG’s £120million agreement with Liverpool for Bradley Barcola.
Arsenal sold Christian Norgaard to Everton for £7m, but with just a short contract and the Dane into his thirties, he was not particularly sought after. The last sale to another Premier League club from the Gunners was Eddie Nketiah to Crystal Palace for £30million.
In the same window, Emile Smith Rowe and Aaron Ramsdale were sold to Fulham and Southampton, respectively, taking the total sales fee close to £90million for the trio. At the time it was seen as good business.
All three were very much surplus to requirements, nor were any featuring much whatsoever. Arsenal lack the sellable resources for one key reason.
When Mikel Arteta took over in 2019, the club rebuilt from the ground up just as the Covid-19 pandemic hit. Many players were paid off to leave, with mutual agreements found the terminate contracts.
The players signed have stuck around. In fact of the team that won the Premier League title in 2026, 14 of them were signed in either 2023, earlier, or came through the youth ranks.
The likes of Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko were crucial signings when they arrived, but injuries and natural succession rendered both surplus. By the time their departures have come around, their contracts have been whittled down, but remained on big wages reflective of their importance from their arrivals.
Reiss Nelson, who just mutually terminated his deal, was also on a big wage, affecting his chances of finding a new club. Martinelli’s exit was definitely affected by his high wages, and it is perhaps no surprise, therefore, to see a Saudi Arabian side capable of offering even higher wages come in for him and not other European sides or other Premier League teams further down the table.
However, when you look at the current squad, there are several players who could potentially fetch a good fee if sold in the coming seasons. Mosquera, who was bought for less than £15million has definitely improved his value, is under a long-term deal, remains in a younger age bracket and has reasonable wages.
Perhaps even Piero Hincapie, who looks nailed on to be the back-up to Riccardo Calafiori, could eventually seek more regular game time after becoming a Premier League champion. He would surely fetch a bigger fee than the £45million the Gunners paid for him.
The club are also aiming to improve their youth sales by searching for talented starlets around the world. Some could break into the senior setup, while others might not, but could gain some value in the market.
While it remains a frustration that rivals are able to successfully sell their players to Premier League clubs for significant fees, for now, it is not entirely surprising. But it remains a challenge for future transfer windows to continue in the vein of Martinelli’s expected departure, and better it.