football.london reports that Martinelli is close to joining Al-Hilal from Arsenal for £60 million.

This transfer will make Martinelli Arsenal's record sale, surpassing the previous record held by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who left for £35 million on 31 August 2017.

football.london understands that one of Arsenal's objectives this summer was to break their long-standing player sale record. Since then, 11 Manchester City players have been sold for more than Arsenal's previous record, with five of those transfers occurring this summer alone.

Liverpool signed Oxlade-Chamberlain that year, and in the same summer transfer window, sold Philippe Coutinho to Barcelona for over £100 million. Since then, Liverpool has also sold Fabinho, Luis Díaz, and Darwin Núñez for higher fees.

After several summer transfer windows with significant spending, Arsenal has faced pressure to sell players. However, their player sale revenue has not kept pace with spending in recent years compared to Manchester City and Chelsea. Mikel Arteta's arrival in 2019 initiated a complete squad rebuild, leading to trophy success six years later, but during this period, the global pandemic affected the club's investment capacity just as Arsenal was seeking to raise funds through sales.

Arsenal cancelled some contracts and took out a loan from the Bank of England's Covid Corporate Financing Facility to offset lost revenue, relying on existing commercial income. In the years following the pandemic, Arsenal's commercial revenue increased significantly, combined with a relatively healthy financial position accumulated over years during the Wenger era, helping them continue to strengthen the squad.

Martinelli joined Arsenal in 2019, before Arteta's arrival, for approximately £6 million. He made his breakthrough in the Europa League under Unai Emery, scoring two goals and one assist in his first two European matches against Standard Liège and Vitória Guimarães at age 18.

However, shortly after Arteta took over, Martinelli suffered a serious knee injury. This came after he had just scored his second and third Premier League goals against Sheffield United and Chelsea, with the Chelsea goal particularly impressive.

The injury caused Martinelli to miss Arsenal's FA Cup final victory. During that cup run, he had helped the team progress, assisting Saka's opening goal in a 2-1 away win against Bournemouth. While many players were sold or left on expiring contracts when Arteta took over, Martinelli stayed and signed a contract extension.

However, over the following three seasons, Martinelli failed to reach his early peak. football.london understands that at the end of the 2024-25 season, when Arsenal won the league title, the player began considering his next move, knowing the club intended to strengthen the left wing.

Eze started ahead of Martinelli and Trossard in the away match against Manchester City. It is believed this reflected Mikel Arteta's squad selection intentions for the new season.

Indeed, football.london has learned from sources that after the World Cup, Eze was considered higher in the pecking order than Martinelli. The club also determined that if a suitable arrangement could be found for all parties, it would be the right time for Martinelli to leave.

Galatasaray emerged as a potential suitor, but their offer of around £38 million fell well short of Arsenal's valuation. It is worth noting that at the time, this fee would have made Martinelli the second-most expensive player in Turkish Super Lig history, behind only Victor Osimhen.

It is understood that Arsenal internally valued Martinelli by referencing transfer fees for players such as Savio to Tottenham, Morgan Rogers to Chelsea, and Anthony Gordon. However, Martinelli had a disappointing season last year, scoring only 1 Premier League goal at age 24, resulting in a lack of strong interest from clubs in the top five leagues, particularly English clubs.

Ian Wright's comments about Arsenal's treatment of Martinelli on Sky Sports surprised many at the club. football.london understands that Mikel Arteta has communicated with the player regarding his exclusion from the Community Shield squad against Manchester City and the opening league match against Coventry.

After the Coventry victory, Wright said: "The way Martinelli is being treated right now makes me very uncomfortable."

Wright continued: "I know they may want him to leave, and many people might say, 'Yes, it's time for him to go.' But there's a way to do it, and it should be in his best interest and done respectfully."

Wright added: "He's not in the squad, no one is explaining things to him, he doesn't know what's happening. Yes, I know that—he doesn't know what's happening."

Wright also stated: "He's done enough for this club, and he deserves a bit more respect than he's getting right now."

There was a sense that although Arteta had explained why Martinelli was not included in the squad, the club's intention to sell Martinelli and the likelihood of his departure or interest from other clubs had not been clearly communicated to the player at that time. That said, the sporting director, for instance, typically does not continuously update players about behind-the-scenes developments before it becomes necessary to inform them.

Furthermore, although the club signed Tzolis, they were still seeking a major new left-winger. Arsenal's interest in Morgan Rogers ended after Chelsea's move, Vinicius Júnior renewed his contract with Real Madrid, and Julián Álvarez remained adamant until the transfer window closed: he would only leave Atlético Madrid for Barcelona.

Arsenal had originally planned to replace both Martinelli and Trossard. One replacement would be a low-profile option, with Tzolis seen as an excellent market opportunity and a chance to develop an underrated player; the other was expected to be a marquee signing to elevate the attack to a higher level.

Unfortunately, the market did not develop as Arsenal hoped. As the transfer window entered its final stages, Al-Hilal became the only genuinely interested party willing to pay Arsenal's asking price for Martinelli, leading to Arsenal's decision.

football.london understands that all levels of Arsenal agreed: Martinelli would be sold, even if they subsequently failed to sign another striker in this window. Even as the final day approached, with the Malik Fofana saga emerging and concluding, Arsenal never considered stopping this deal.

Tzolis, Eze, and Madueke were deemed sufficient to support the team at least until January. Although Arsenal had ambitious plans to sign a marquee player, their failure to do so did not prevent them from agreeing to the club-record £60 million deal with the Saudi club.

In the final weekend before the transfer window closed, negotiations quietened, with both clubs still in talks. football.london understands that Martinelli's former club, Ituano, holds a 15% sell-on clause in the deal that brought him to Arsenal in 2019.

Initially, all parties discussed a fixed fee of £50 million plus approximately £6 million in performance-related add-ons, with hopes to include another sell-on clause. However, it is understood that the two clubs ultimately agreed on a fixed fee of £60 million, and it is currently unclear whether a sell-on clause is included.

Martinelli arrived in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday local time and completed his medical within the following 24 hours. Arsenal will announce his departure, and the Saudi transfer window remains open until 12 October.

Diterjemahkan oleh AI.

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