Gabriel Martinelli Arsenal FC EPL
Emirates Arsenal FC EPL
Mikel Arteta is looking to upgrade his left-wing position and according to a report in The Athletic, the Arsenal manager is ready to offload Leandro Trossard as well as Gabriel Martinelli.
Trossard has mostly been an impact sub for the Gunners so this decision is understandable but Gabriel Martinelli is more or less a regular starter. This season he has made 50 appearances in all competitions but still, Arsenal are willing to listen to offers for the winger.
The Brazilian international is currently valued at €55 million and the club will not hesitate to offload him if someone is willing to pay more than €60 million. This price tag seems pretty justified because Gabriel Martinelli still has two more years remaining on his current contract and there’s also a clause to increase it further by another season.
However, if Mikel Arteta has decided to part ways with Martinelli then surely he has a backup plan in place. We take a look at some of the left wingers who have been linked with Arsenal in recent months and which one of them can actually replace the 23-year-old.
If scouted correctly there are plenty of left-wingers available:
The first and most obvious name that’s been doing the rounds is that of Rodrygo. The Brazilian is unhappy with the lack of importance at Real Madrid and wants to leave the club in the coming weeks. Rodrygo has mostly played as a right-winger for Madrid but the 24-year-old is naturally a left-winger and he wants to continue on the left-hand side.
Arsenal will have to shell out around €80-100 million to be able to land him but there’s no denying that Rodrygo will be the perfect upgrade. The forward is vastly experienced and he’s also won three La Liga and two Champions League trophies with Los Blancos.
The other name which has been linked with Arsenal is Leroy Sane.
Sane is refusing to sign a new deal with Bayern Munich but the Bavarians have given him a deadline. If he does not commit to a new deal then he will be available as a free agent and his experience both in Europe and with Manchester City can be very beneficial for Arsenal. He played close to 150 games for Man City, winning the Premier League two times but signing him will not be easy because a host of other clubs are also keeping tabs on his contract situation.
Nico Williams is currently the top priority signing for Mikel Arteta and his €58 million release clause means he is the most financially viable replacement for Gabriel Martinelli. Even if Arsenal manage to sell Martinelli for €60 million, they won’t have to pay anything out of their pockets to sign the Bilbao winger.
Williams is keen to join Arsenal but recently, Real Madrid have been linked with him and this interest could very easily push the Gunners into the back seat.
Is there any need to sell Gabriel Martinelli?
On paper there’s no need to cash in on Gabriel Martinelli because he is still just 23 years old and has a lot of time to improve. However, the pressure is growing on Mikel Arteta to deliver trophies and for that he needs experienced goalscorers.
Martinelli is a very good team player but this season he’s made just 12 goal contributions in 32 Premier League matches and these numbers are just not good enough.
The manager will need someone who can come in and have a 30+ G/A campaign and if Arsenal sign someone at a bargain price, we don’t see why they shouldn’t sell Gabriel Martinelli.