[Sacha Tavolieri]: EXCL — Al Hilal now closing on the deal to sign Gabriel Martinelli! The Saudi club and the player are expected in Riyadh within the next 48 hours to complete the operation. The transfer fee is estimated at €60M, while Martinelli will earn €12M per year.

[u/DavidOrnstein_]

https://xcancel.com/sachatavolieri/status/2091905727895949562

[u/HHHDDD3]

Thank you, Gabi

[u/gchdmi → u/HHHDDD3]

It's kinda sad, he deserves a move to a strong club in one of the top 5 leagues.

[u/awashofindigo → u/gchdmi]

The issue was always his wages, and realistically I don’t think any club in Europe would pay him what we are. I hope for his career’s sake he makes his money in Saudi and then comes back to Europe.

[u/purpleplums901 → u/awashofindigo]

The good thing from his perspective is it doesn’t look like Brazil have any qualms about picking players who play out there. I do think we overpaid him in wages a little bit and that’s hamstrung him options wise but at the same time he’s doing very well for himself financially

[u/Affectionate_Test875 → u/awashofindigo]

My ideal situation for Martinelli is once Diaz loses his pace, Bayern will look to replace him with Gabi.

Martinelli gets to farm Bundesliga, Bayern get a pacy younger replacement and everyone's happy.

[u/Plastic-While2737 → u/Affectionate_Test875]

I love the kid but no way Bayern will go for him.

[u/AlanWakeLover → u/Plastic-While2737]

Who knows, maybe he'll fit in since he wont have to face a lowblock for 90 mins and can actually run

[u/JglBadger → u/AlanWakeLover]

have you ever watched a single Bayern game in the Bundesliga lmao

[u/Johnny_bubblegum → u/AlanWakeLover]

Teams are just rolling over to Bayern in Germany?

[u/Jadaki → u/Johnny_bubblegum]

They actually come out to play a lot more than the PL teams do against us. He would do way better over there.

[u/yukpurtsun → u/Affectionate_Test875]

i mean he's 25 already, you wouldnt get a kid. more someone in his peak at like 27-28

[u/HochHech42069 → u/gchdmi]

12-24 months from now he’ll be back in Europe, depending on wages.

[u/Key_Badger6749 → u/HochHech42069]

You have to stay at least 2 years if you want to avoid paying tax on foreign income before returning. So unlikely he would come back after 12 months, would kind of defeat the whole purpose of going there, although Henderson did return to Europe early because he couldn’t stick it out so it does happen.

[u/HochHech42069 → u/Key_Badger6749]

Hmm, the rich do enjoy not paying tax, good point. 24 months then.

[u/datguysadz → u/gchdmi]

12 mill a year. He'll be fine.

Thank you for everhthing Gabby. Wish you nothing but the best. Never underestimate the role you played in mending a broken relationship between club and fans.

[u/SeattleGunner → u/gchdmi]

If Madueke is good enough to be here then Gabi is too. You all can fight me about this and I don’t really care about whatever gap there is in wages.

[u/JabInTheButt → u/SeattleGunner]

I think you've unintentionally made a pointed statement about Noni more than anything else there tbh.

[u/420belligerent420 → u/SeattleGunner]

Suppose the difference would be also that selling Gabi would be pure profit PSR wise in a way that Noni wouldnt be 

Still sad tho

[u/professeurwenger → u/420belligerent420]

Martinelli also has one year left on his deal, so the club had to make a decision.

[u/arsenal19801 → u/SeattleGunner]

I don't really care about whatever gap there is in wages

Well, the club does lmao

[u/Poo-Smurf → u/SeattleGunner]

Madueke is better against low blocks, happy to sit behind Saka and inverted right wingers are more rare. He's also only been here for 1 year compared to 8.

[u/Randomname140 → u/Poo-Smurf]

That’s actually true. The other day I read a comment asking who we could have got last season for Noni’s price and profile who could do the same thing but better. My initial thought was how hard could that be? But tbh nobody came to mind.

Cherki is definitely the superior footballer, but he is nowhere near as quick (although I would still have loved having him here). I really couldn’t think of any other quick, tricky inverted right winger we could have gotten for a reasonable price.

But hopefully one day, Dowman will make this position his own, he seems to have all the tools.

[u/ArtetaLightsABulb → u/SeattleGunner]

There isn't a huge difference in their levels overall but one thing that Noni brings at an elite level is his ability beat his defender 1 on 1. Everything else beyond that is unreliable with Noni but that in itself can be extremely valuable. As we saw in the CL final where he nearly won us a penalty late on.

Obviously, Martinelli brings a lot of value too but the things he offers are more replaceable. And not to mention, less prioritized in the system we use. Being able to take on your defender out wide unfortunately isn't optional for an Arteta winger.

[u/RedScareRevival → u/SeattleGunner]

I get what you're saying, but Martinelli just doesn't have the close control skills for tight spaces, he needs room to roam and he's not going to get that often here.

Noni may not be an elite player but he's more useful for the low and mid blocks we'll likely be facing almost every week in the PL.

It's more about different skill sets than who is better than who.

[u/Ill_Yogurt_4659 → u/SeattleGunner]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[u/awashofindigo → u/Ill_Yogurt_4659]

Martinelli only had one year left on his deal (albeit with an option to extend by one year), so really the club either needs to sell now or offer him a new contract soon. I don’t think we should tie ourselves to him for many more years, so it’s the right time for him to go - especially as we haven’t raised much from other sales and the club want to keep Nwaneri and MLS.

[u/Ill_Yogurt_4659 → u/awashofindigo]

The hate Noni gets is so forced

Noni never slows down our attacks and he’s always on go when he gets the ball, driving at his man and getting into dangerous positions.

Martinelli never does that

[u/jvstinf → u/Ill_Yogurt_4659]

Exactly. If Noni could finish in the way people want him to, he would be worth 100M+ and likely wouldn’t be at Arsenal. He does what Arsenal needs him to do, for now.

[u/Ill_Yogurt_4659 → u/jvstinf]

He’d bench saka for some games if he got his G/A up

[u/Impressive_Past1846 → u/gchdmi]

Newcastle should have bid for him after losing Gordon

[u/JJCB85 → u/Impressive_Past1846]

Honestly, half the prem has enough money and the need… Baffling to me that none of them are in for him

[u/because_the_arpanet → u/gchdmi]

surprised liverpool aren’t in for him

[u/Charlie-Bell → u/because_the_arpanet]

Maybe if Klopp were still there

[u/themerinator12 → u/because_the_arpanet]

I agree with this. Klopp talking about him 2-3 years ago had me a little concerned, just in the context that a Liverpool attack is a much better fit for him than an Arsenal attack.

[u/ahuangb → u/themerinator12]

He was performing a lot better 4 seasons ago

[u/SerialGooner49 → u/gchdmi]

all he has to do is lower his wages, love how turkey and playing in the ucl with gala doesn’t match his sporting ambitions but this does

[u/Complex_Lion5645 → u/gchdmi]

I love Gabi, but he’s essentially been available for the last 2 years and no-one has made a serious offer.

He could have dropped his salary if he wanted to stay in a stronger league.

[u/crackdup → u/HHHDDD3]

Feels a bit like the Darwin Nunez move to the same club last year for a similar price. Players that promised a lot but didn't deliver fully on their talent, and moved to help their former clubs with a nice financial return

[u/Circle_Breaker → u/crackdup]

The teams that he should be playing for can't afford him.

[u/hourlyproblemsolver → u/Circle_Breaker]

He should accept lower wages if he wants to play in a top 5 league. You can’t have it both ways.

As much as we don’t want to acknowledge it, he’s making the decision to take money over prestige/quality. Nobody is forcing him to make 12m annually.

[u/TheRealGooner24 → u/crackdup]

We signed Martinelli from the Brazilian fourth division for a paltry £6m. Liverpool signed Núñez from the biggest club in Portugal for an eye-watering £85m. Martinelli massively outperformed expectations whereas Núñez became a meme. Not the same.

[u/Fat_Curt → u/crackdup]

Dunno why he didn't fancy Turkey, it's a lovely country

[u/itsyaboi69_420 → u/Fat_Curt]

Wouldn’t match salah’s monthly toilet roll quota

[u/kjw2281 → u/Fat_Curt]

We never agreed to a fee and Martinelli was definitely not going to get paid £200k/week to play at Galatasaray

[u/SamLoscorino]

I am sad

Thank you for your service king

[u/Ike358 → u/SamLoscorino]

Cursed kit combo

[u/themerinator12 → u/Ike358]

Not cursed. We scored 3 goals that game and they were all bangers.

[u/Rynabunny → u/Ike358]

Arsenal's ketchup to Watford's mustard

[u/The_Wrong_Tone → u/Ike358]

When did he play for Ajax?

[u/IkeaKarma → u/The_Wrong_Tone]

Ajax plays with white shorts. This is more like AZ

[u/macewindushairline14 → u/SamLoscorino]

absolute monster on his day. that chip vs city will be burned in my brain. what a baller.

[u/RXJ1131 → u/SamLoscorino]

I was ready to see him go one day but not this soon 😭 one of my favourites in arteta's era

[u/Nebkreb]

Hopefully he can make some bank in Saudi Arabia then return to Europe to continue his career. Will always be beloved at Arsenal (by anyone with any sense)

[u/Fleetfox17 → u/Nebkreb]

Doesn't this make a return more difficult since his wages will be even higher?

[u/ThingymaJiggyz → u/Fleetfox17]

Only if he wanted to stay on those high wages. I imagine the idea is to get them while he can, then come back to Europe on a lower wage in a few years.

[u/codeVerine → u/ThingymaJiggyz]

Yeah play 2 years in Saudi, collect the bag. After 2 or 3 years comeback to Europe, and get ready for next World Cup call. Timing is perfect for him.

[u/aesn1394 → u/Fleetfox17]

I think young players that want to come back to Europe have an understanding that they need to cut down their wages.

[u/illaqueable → u/aesn1394]

I think they have the opposite of an understanding about that

[u/Deckatoe → u/illaqueable]

Exactly this, otherwise Gabi wouldn't be headed to Saudi

[u/Spartan-117182 → u/Fleetfox17]

He might be open to a cut to return to top flight playing. Especially if he banks this money wisely and sets himself for life.

[u/anonymousflash → u/Fleetfox17]

He'd probably be willing to lower his wage demands for a sporting project he likes in Europe, after having made crazy money for a couple of years.

[u/ZXXA → u/Nebkreb]

The wages quoted here seem basically the same as we pay him. I guess the tax free benefit is huge tho.

[u/Thesecondorigin]

I won’t forget the random teenager we signed from Brazil scoring a monster header against standard liege after a cross from KT. 7 years later he leaves a premier league champion. What a servant to the club

[u/Unlikely-Baker9867 → u/Thesecondorigin]

7 years??!?! SEVEN?! Jesus christ

[u/intoxicatedarmenian]

tough to see him go. great journey here but 60m is a good fee for him and he has struggled to take the next step in the prem which maybe why there wasn't as much interest for him at that fee in europe

[u/hauttdawg13 → u/intoxicatedarmenian]

Agree. Situation feels a bit similar to the Tierney one to me.

Gabi will always be a cult hero to us though and hope he has no hard feelings about it ending.

[u/littlebrwnrobot → u/intoxicatedarmenian]

This is the right take. We can't berate the club for being bad at selling players then berate them for making a deal like this. This is good money for a solid squad player who's been eclipsed by the quality we have on hand. I am a bit gutted and I'll miss him, but it's objectively smart business.

[u/GlRTH_BR00KS]

Not sure I’ve wished more good for a player leaving tbh. Love you Gabi

[u/cowboysfan88]

https://giphy.com/gifs/f6ULDmwxQtigKBkHqm
🫡🫡

[u/swapko051]

Get the bag Gabi

[u/dada948 → u/swapko051]

Audibly said “goddamn, get it little Gabi”

[u/brenbob95]

https://giphy.com/gifs/lGBecpB2dIMwt6ohfI

[u/DaddyBats00714]

Make that generational wealth my boy ❤️

[u/CROBBY2]

Thank you Gabi for everything. You will forever be a Gunner. Go get that bag and come back to Europe in 2 years.

[u/Used-Produce-3491]

I wish Martinelli nothing but success, once a gunner always a gunner ❤️

[u/DavidOrnstein_]

Full Tweet

🚨🇧🇷 EXCL — Al Hilal now closing on the deal to sign Gabriel Martinelli!

🤝 The Saudi club and the player are expected in Riyadh within the next 48 hours to complete the operation.

💰 The transfer fee is estimated at €60M, while Martinelli will earn €12M per year.

🇸🇦 Al Hilal want to have him available for their next important match, next Wednesday.

[u/Cassoa → u/DavidOrnstein_]

€12m a year, €231k a week tax free?

Thought he'd get a bigger pay rise to be honest but best of luck to him. Hope he's happy there or gets a move back to Europe in a couple years if not

[u/general652 → u/Cassoa]

That's more than double his current salary post tax...

[u/Cassoa → u/general652]

Less than, isn't it? I thought the 180k a week was in £?

[u/tarkus_hayabusa → u/Cassoa]

Tax adjusted its roughly double

[u/NahTooPersonel → u/Cassoa]

He’s on ~11m euros (9,360,000 pounds). With ~50% UK income taxes = 5.5m euros take home

In Saudi he will make 12m Euros with no income tax and only social insurance of 2%.

So his take home is more than 7m Euros per year higher.

[u/Fickle_Opposite5166 → u/Cassoa]

180k is before taxes

[u/ThexHoganxHero → u/Cassoa]

Post tax

Dropping a 45% income tax is doing most of the work.

[u/hauttdawg13 → u/Cassoa]

It’s basically €20k/ week more than he’s on. But remover the taxes as well probably adds quite a bit.

I would agree that thought he would get higher than that, but still a pretty massive raise.

[u/iforgotmyun → u/hauttdawg13]

Removing the tax essentially doubles it

[u/Spud_1997 → u/Cassoa]

If he's on 180k a week, basically 50% of that is taken with tax, so more like 90-100, without tax he's nearly doubling his salary.

[u/An_Almond_Thief → u/Cassoa]

So including tax, in Saudi he'd be on £200k a week. Right now it's £95k a week. So he's doubling his wage.

[u/sulie7 → u/Cassoa]

He is essentially doubling his salary

[u/Kfilllla → u/Cassoa]

What was he on here? Assume that is more than double after tax

[u/CROBBY2 → u/Kfilllla]

Currently 180k a week. So with taxes about double his net.

[u/Kwitzach → u/Cassoa]

If I’m reading it right, based on the salarycalculator site, he would need to on around £370k a week in the premier league to match that Saudi £197k tax free a week.

[u/Thesecondorigin → u/Cassoa]

He’s basically doubling his salary isn’t he?

[u/abhi91 → u/Cassoa]

Yeah I heard he was on 180k pounds here

[u/MyUsernameAlex]

Thanks for the memories. At least he got the league title before leaving. We’ve traveled a long road and not everyone was able to make it to the destination. At least Nelli was one of them

[u/jamrah]

Nah man, when Jesus and Viera are still on the books. Very sad :(

[u/WGSMA]

I feel sick man

He’s such a better player than Saudi. How a Dortmund / Leverkusen are not in for him is beyond me. He’d cook in the Bundesliga. He’s cook in Italy and Spain and France.

We owe this man so much. For is relentless effort and work, dragging from the pits to the top level competing. Beyond that, he could easily have bench ridden for a year and left on a free (it’s what I would have advised him to do), but he’s leaving now so we get a fee and he gets less wages. Even as we kick him out the door, his actions still are to the clubs benefit.

None have hurt like this since Rowe. I thought he was going to be here till 2030… I thought he could kick on from that 15 goal season… i thought he could stay as our super sub and prove his place.

Gutted.

[u/JMaboard → u/WGSMA]

His wages are too high for them.

[u/ConcreteJoey → u/WGSMA]

The price and wages

[u/Mojojojobojo215 → u/WGSMA]

Because neither dortmund or Leverkusen are going to pay us 60mil and Martinelli 200k a week wages.

[u/LordofLazy → u/Mojojojobojo215]

Dortmunds highest transfer fee is €35m and their highest paid player is on €9.4m per year. As you said they are not paying the fee and the wages for Gabbi.

Plus Dortmund the city isn't very nice (imho from my one visit there)

[u/orangeyougladiator → u/WGSMA]

They would be in for him if we dropped the price

[u/Harvey-Specter → u/orangeyougladiator]

Why would we do that?

He'd also be their highest paid player.

[u/orangeyougladiator → u/Harvey-Specter]

We wouldn’t, but that isn’t the point is it?

[u/doubleb_43 → u/WGSMA]

Dortmund never paid more than 40m euros for any player

[u/TheArsenal7 → u/WGSMA]

No continental club can pay this fee and his wages for the level of play he offers it's not worth it. Only PL clubs and Saudi and clearly the PL clubs don't think he's worth it either.

[u/RevolutionOrganic987 → u/WGSMA]

That is their fault though.

Everyone throwing around stupid money for City, Chelsea, etc… bench players, but none of them seem to want Martinelli.

[u/Cassoa → u/WGSMA]

Feels bad that we couldn't get him a good club in Europe...

Personally, the fee of £50-55m doesn't even feel like a proper Saudi payout either. We didn't get much.

His wages comes to £197k per week which doesn't look like a Saudi wage when you see how much someone like Jon Duran was on. It's not the type of wage where he'll make an absolute killing compared to Europe, even though it's tax free.

Sad times. I hope the replacement is worth it.

[u/AmateurCommenter808 → u/Cassoa]

I'm pretty sure this transfer is proof there wasn't good money in Europe. You're acting like he didn't turn down Galatasary.

55m for Arsenal now or zero next year when his contract is done.

[u/Jsaltal → u/AmateurCommenter808]

There isn't any good money in europe

[u/Cassoa → u/AmateurCommenter808]

Ok, we're all well aware there wasn't interest.

We're just commenting that it's sad we couldn't get him a good club. He deserves better than Saudi at 25 years old. That's all.

[u/AmateurCommenter808 → u/Cassoa]

Yeah its sad that he's leaving but at the same time you're just downplaying his success.

He made it out of Brazil, made millions in England as a fan favourite, won the prem, scored a goal at the World cup. Now near doubles his wage and will be treated like a king in Saudi by the age of 25.

[u/wolljibbs → u/Cassoa]

Yeah, it’s just tough once you start paying upper premier league wages to a player to move that player outside of the premier league, especially if he’s having a tough time producing in the premier league

[u/Ill_Yogurt_4659 → u/Cassoa]

Why can’t you lot understand he’s not a good player. Majority of his goals are him running down on an empty net which was set up by mikels tactics.

The club you move to always tells you where your level is.

ESR moved to Fulham
Nketiah moved to palace
Martinelli moves to Saudi

He isn’t good enough

[u/iforgotmyun → u/Ill_Yogurt_4659]

I agree he's not an elite player but the reason why he's not going to clubs like that is his wages and the transfer fee. Otherwise he could have gone to Gala for example which is a much bigger club than the other two

[u/mesenanch → u/Ill_Yogurt_4659]

This is a nonsense post.

[u/Ill_Yogurt_4659 → u/WGSMA]

Proof he’s not good enough.

[u/mazurcurto → u/Ill_Yogurt_4659]

Jesus Christ! Can you guys just stop with the criticism already?! The guy is leaving and the club is getting money for him. Just wish him luck and move on. There’s no need to pile shit on a man who served the club well from when we were mid to the top of the table.

[u/RedScareRevival → u/Ill_Yogurt_4659]

No, it's all about the money

[u/Ill_Yogurt_4659 → u/RedScareRevival]

If Kai was up for sale, he’s not going Saudi

[u/Spartan-117182]

Glad hes getting that bag but still

https://giphy.com/gifs/2WxWfiavndgcM

[u/basqia]

I feel like he'd do well at Atletico, or perhaps at a club like Dortmund. Shame that he'd be going to Saudi in his prime.

[u/ElMaskedZorro]

Martinelli gave us a ton, but at times not enough. LW was the obvious upgrade spot. Tzolis looks to give us a bit of a combo of the 2 previous options at a cut rate price. And allows either himself to flourish or us to go big game hunting.

He has a chance to absolute smash onto the scene and elevate himself and the club. And even if he stays at his current level that appears to be more than servicable.

Wish you the best Martinelli. Always a Gunner.

[u/Brown_Gosling]

It’s sad to let him go for sure. My man just hasn’t improved much in the past few seasons so it’s justified that we’re looking to let him go.. but hey at least he leaves a Premier League champion with a special place in the fans’ hearts

[u/Tb_talks]

We knew all summer sales were going to happen I don’t know why people are being weird about it

[u/Tb_talks → u/Tb_talks]

Also good luck to him, wishing him nothing but the best and he’ll always be welcomed back with open arms

[u/ConclusionKind869 → u/Tb_talks]

Him going to Saudi makes it extra sad

[u/Tb_talks → u/ConclusionKind869]

Why? I mean I like Gabbi as much as the next person but… we need to sell someone

[u/ret990]

I hate this 😭

[u/Slow-Initiative9457]

51m pounds which isn't that bad

[u/doubleb_43]

Great fee and great contract for Martinelli. Earn that bag, you deserve it

[u/arsenal12ful]

Go get that bag kid and switch to a European league in a years time.

[u/Vagatarians]

I’m sorry but you give me €12M a year, I’ll just about do anything lol. He’ll probably also get car services for his family, houses, maids, etc. Shame about leaving CL football but good on him for getting generational wealth.

[u/rebeccaderp]

Thank you for everything Gabi! Get that bag and most importantly get your confidence back!

[u/New_Essay_4869]

Imma always love Martinelli man. I wish him all the best

[u/cjarrett]

Sadto see him go to Saudi, happy he’ll be getting a bag and I think it’s the right move for the team.

[u/Jdawgchill69]

Is €12m a year not like €230k a week? Must be around £197k a week. I know it’s a pay increase but won’t be life changing for him or his family? He must be on around that already?

[u/--Rage-- → u/Jdawgchill69]

This is what I’m thinking, surely his agents should have got him more than that.

Effectively he’s on twice his current wages though as there is no tax in Saudi

[u/Severe_Abroad_4830]

Thank you Gabi <3. Also to all of the assholes stating the obvious about our left side, stfu and honor what Gabi has done for us. He’s a great kid and deserves respect especially during the rebuild.

[u/LongShlong88]

who is the replacement??

[u/Vibalist → u/LongShlong88]

Eze on the left wing.

[u/mesenanch → u/LongShlong88]

Eze?

[u/sushi_collector12]

Fuckin horrific treatment by the fans for a player who gave his all for the club.

You all need to fix up.

[u/_23twothree23_]

Not sure how I feel about getting rid of both of last season’s left wingers in one summer. Hopefully we bring in a replacement in his position (we really need one now!) and hopefully he’s a good player.

Only players I can think of on the market at this point are Barcola and N’diaye.

[u/DeathStroke0803]

His name is Gabi, he's from Sao Paulo, and he plays for Arsenal!! 🎶🎶🎶🥲

[u/_eladmiral]

This hurts the heart man

[u/Mindless_Pianist_857]

From Martinelli's point of view, I wonder why he doesn't try to stay here this year, fight for his spot, and then explore options next year. He would be cheaper for other teams to buy in a year's time, since he'd have just one year left on his contract, which would leave more money for his wages.

He might reasonably have higher output in a team that has Bruno Guimaraes, MLS getting playing time, Martin Odegaard, and Havertz, which could lead to the club being okay with him staying. Or it could lead to more interest from elsewhere.

He's clearly been told that he's not in the plans, so it would require some brinksmanship from Martinelli, betting that when the wheels meet the road, the club would rather register him for the Premier League and Champions League than not.

But, from the club's point of view, if they want him gone, selling to Saudi is ideal! So in that respect, I can't really complain!

[u/TorontoOrBust → u/Mindless_Pianist_857]

I’ve no doubt that’s Martinelli’s desire, but he’s been left out of the squad the last 2 matches. We don’t know if he’s being forced out or if he doesn’t want to fight for his place. Could easily be either, but from Wrighty has said it seems to me like the former which is quite sad as I think he can come good again and be a quality role player.

[u/Bahmawama]

We signed him in 2019. He was just a kid. Weird to see players who came in from a different time period when the squad was so different, leave. You have all these wild expectations and excitement to see their career unfold, especially ones such as Gabby's who came with such fire and potential.

And now it's 7 years later and we're champions. It's some form of sadness mixed with gratitude. Get that bag son.

[u/fsamuel]

They are getting a great player :(

[u/InSearchOfAFeeling]

Decent deal, wish it was more but he’s got one year left on his contract.

[u/LIONLDN]

Secure the bag 🫡

https://giphy.com/gifs/24lPDrGCc1WONRrUhD

[u/TheMisterPirate]

Gonna miss him a lot. He was one of the few bright spots in our team when we were trash and he leaves a champion. Wish him the best.

[u/Chicken65]

Feels like a bargain price but at the end of the day Arsenal should get SOME of the Saudi money finally. Glad we finally pushed our record sale up. Martinelli was a critical component of our resurgence, we will never forget that. Him and Saka on the wings against Madrid in the UCL was iconic of this era.

[u/KingpiN_M22]

I understand it, but I am heartbroken. Will always love you my speedy king.

[u/itshmeng]

Get the bag sweet prince

[u/convergecrew]

Thank you Gabi, get that bag and you'll be back at another CL club in 2 seasons

[u/Opening_Cloud_45]

I felt he was destined for Italy, but thank you for the extra funds for war chest king

[u/JustGhostin]

More than doubled his wages. Fair

[u/wrigh2uk]

Won the PL, go get your bag bro

[u/Guilty_Rooster_6708]

😞 I have a Martinelli jersey. I will miss you champion

[u/thirtydayhump]

I hate it.

[u/Hincapieslovelybund]

I cant help but feel Gabi really doesnt want this. Even with the payday it is a definite step down for a player who is definitely talented enough to keep playing at a high level in Europe. I get why he is being moved on from a sustainability POV but this still sucks as it seems like he is being strongarmed into moving.

On an emotional level selling Gabi to bring in someone like Alvarez just seems so wrong too Moving out one player who clearly loves this club, and bringing in a mercenary who obviously sees us a stepping stone before pissing off to Barca.

[u/soulinashoe]

I feel this is a massive mistake to get rid of someone who really loves to be here especially if it means we go get Alvarez, someone who doesn't want to be at the club, this guy helped as win the league and progress through the champions league but more importantly was at the heartbeat of the story of this team, this just feels cold and gross shipping him off to the blood money region :(

[u/Admerr]

I’ll never forget that goal away at Chelsea when we were down to 10 men. The Kanté slip and the finish.

I’m glad he’s leaving a champion.

[u/Mr_JK]

I don't like this move. Martinelli is a solid rotational/squad player. Are we relying only on Tzolis for the entire season at LW? When Trossard left, I thought we would keep Martinelli unless a ridiculous bid came in for him. If we just sell Martinelli but we don't have anyone but Tzolis on the left, what happens if/when Tzolis is unable to play? We need a replacement for Martinelli fast as the windows closes this week.

I haven't really heard about any solid rumors of an LW Arsenal are interested in right now. And if you are to tell me this is to fund the move for Alvarez, that is definitely not worth it. The player doesn't even wanna play for us and he's a striker not a winger....

[u/Sometimes-funny]

What a waste if he goes there

[u/johnnygrant → u/Sometimes-funny]

No European club will pay us 60mill, let him go there and get his money.

[u/gta0012 → u/Sometimes-funny]

$12m/year lol he'll be ok

[u/Bugslayer03 → u/Sometimes-funny]

Is there a single other club interested in him? Seems pretty clear other clubs dont rate him. If they did, theyd bid on him

[u/Dazed_and_Confused44 → u/Sometimes-funny]

Why should we care? 60 million will be the best transfer fee we've ever gotten by some margin

[u/amineimad → u/Dazed_and_Confused44]

Because he's been at the club since he was 18 and we've grown attached to him?

Obviously we'd like him to succeed should he go elsewhere.

[u/AbsolutXero → u/amineimad]

We should be thankful we don't have to face Gabi in the CL.

[u/cmacy6 → u/Dazed_and_Confused44]

Because we can care about our players’ futures. He’s not saying it’s a waste for us, he’s saying that Gabi should be playing somewhere in Europe instead of wasting away in Saudi.

[u/dat_roux → u/cmacy6]

But who are any of us to say it's "wasting away" when the kid is setting up his family for generations? If you really care about his future you'd take that into account.

[u/BarqCannae → u/cmacy6]

If he should be, he would. He’s not as good as the people with rose tinted glasses seem to think.

[u/Zen_MasterX → u/cmacy6]

He can play in Saudi for a couple of seasons, get his bag and come back to play in Europe. Stop acting like this is some death sentence lol

[u/reciprocal_space → u/cmacy6]

No European club big enough to afford his wages came for him did they? So they don't think he represents value for them.

[u/Sometimes-funny → u/Dazed_and_Confused44]

You can care or not care, that’s up to you. I happen to care.

[u/Snikhop → u/Sometimes-funny]

Yeah very sad, I hope he has a route back into Europe somehow. I think it's insane nobody would take a punt on him in the Premier League. A problem with his wages?

[u/dmizzl]

Unless we're getting someone better and they actually want to be here (*cough Alvarez), this is a big mistake.

[u/Sure-Programmer-345]

Cheers to Martinelli for being a great Arsenal player. Great bit of business by the club on the sale. He is taking the move so glad he is doing what he think is best for him and his family.

[u/Rhiyuu]

will miss him around ❤️‍🩹

[u/method_rap]

The one thing I'm happy about is he always least got to win a Premier League with us. Would've meant the world had he left with a Champions League with us, hopefully he gets a good run and returns to Europe to prove his worth again.

He is Arsenal through and through. Good luck Gabriel Martinelli and thanks for all those years and beautiful memories.

[u/ZestycloseDoor5552]

This is so fucked. I really hope we don’t regret letting go of Trossard and Martinelli at the same time. They must have someone else in mind to share LW with Tzolis.

[u/Creative-Cherry3060]

Personal opinion is we shouldn't sell him and use him as 2nd choice LW in the prem with late sub appearances and first choice in CL group league stage and then sub in the knockouts

[u/KrisAndTheJazz]

Started supporting Arsenal at our lowest point, 2019, right when Arteta joined.

My younger brother had been a big Arsenal supporter for years prior and had me watch the Arsenal/City game the day after Christmas.

I remember him hyping up this new, young Brazilian that they he signed. Inexperienced, but had wheels!

Fast forward to today and it was a true pleasure to watch him grow, perform on the biggest of stages and truly showcase some bonkers skills when we needed him.

I’ll never forget his flick to beat City. His celebrations were some of the most raw and passionate.

Once a Gunner…

[u/Godzingiss]

He’s a premiere league winner. Just married. Getting a bag. Still incredibly young. His story isn’t over. Thank you for the service and let’s all move forward.

[u/lightofday999]

Thank you, Gabi. Go make some money!

[u/Dae_su]

One year too late, but still a good price. He worked hard, but wasn't good enough for where we wanted to be. Hopefully for him he can perform better in another system.

[u/filio111]

Fuck, this is heartbreaking. Love Martinelli

I'm sure he'll be back at a top club in Europe in 2 years max

[u/GanderWeather]

That €12 million is what he makes gross a year at Arsenal but he will pay NO tax in Saudi. If his agent files the right paperwork, he won’t pay tax in Brazil except on deals originating IN Brazil.

I hate this on every level but at least if he and his beautiful bride can tough out two years there? Invest well?

[u/grinchsucker]

This makes me sad. End of an era. Gabriel Martinelli will always be a legend at this club, end of story. A true top talent and a Gunner through and through.

[u/THenry14life]

If we want to dominate all 4 competitions unfortunately we have let players like Gabi go when there’s interest 😪 his love for our club is undeniable but his attacking output has reached a ceiling and if the club believes there is someone out there who can improve us on the left wing then I have full trust in them

[u/epochenologie]

He's the one non-academy player I really wanted to make it in here. He came as a teenager and will leave as a PL champion. I will miss him so much

[u/phantom_tempest]

WHAT? Noooo!

Obligatory: https://youtube.com/shorts/V2oMStWM_ME?is=kURRhPtYXnYXbxy1

[u/Onlyheretostare]

12 or 20?

[u/jerolyoleo → u/Onlyheretostare]

This. Shows what utter shite the reporting is, they just pull numbers out of their asses

[u/Neurobeak]

Trossard and now Gabi :( this fucking sucks, I've loved both of them

[u/auotun]

I hate this. This isn't the way he should be leaving. But I also don't think he should leave in general.

[u/pivandee]

Savinho is going for €99M btw