Martinelli has been left out of two Arsenal squads, and Al-Hilal have six days to sign him
Two squads named, no Martinelli in either. Al-Hilal are in talks, Arsenal opened at £60m, and the club that can afford to wait is not the one in London.
Aug 26, 2026
Arsenal have not put out a statement about Gabriel Martinelli. They have put out two teamsheets, and neither had his name on it.
He was left out of the squad for the Community Shield win over Manchester City, which meant no winner’s medal. Then he was left out again for the Premier League opener against Coventry City on Friday 21 August, a 3-0 win at the Emirates. BBC Sport reported that Mikel Arteta had explained his reasons to the player directly. Six days before the window shuts, Al-Hilal are the club doing something about it.
The price has already moved
The Athletic reported that Al-Hilal have opened talks with Arsenal over the Brazilian, with Arsenal looking for around £60m. ESPN’s version has the number landing nearer £40m if it gets done. Nothing has been agreed between the clubs, and nothing has been signed with the player.
The gap between the ask and the likely fee is not hard to explain. Martinelli’s contract runs to June 2027, so this is the last window in which Arsenal can sell him for a real fee instead of watching him leave for nothing. In the Premier League last season he played 30 times, started 11 of them, and finished with one goal and four assists from about 1,070 minutes. A buying club knows all of that.
Galatasaray had already tried. Their bid of around 45 million euros was turned down, and Martinelli’s camp made clear he had no interest in Turkey. Saudi Arabia is a different answer, and Globo Esporte reported that he has now agreed to the idea.
Arsenal have already bought the replacement
The left-wing slot is not sitting empty waiting for him to change his mind. Arsenal paid Club Brugge £34m for Christos Tzolis earlier in the window, a record fee for the Belgian league, on a five-year deal. Tzolis came in after Leandro Trossard left for Besiktas, and he plays the same side of the pitch as Martinelli.
Arsenal’s own account of the situation leans on exactly that. The club deny freezing Martinelli out and point to the depth they now have in wide areas and to how well Tzolis has started. Both things can be true. A manager can genuinely rate the new signing more highly and still be leaving a player out to make a sale easier.
The dressing room noticed
ESPN reported discomfort among Martinelli’s team-mates over how it has been handled, with senior players unhappy that he was cut from the Community Shield squad altogether. Ian Wright was blunter about it on the BBC. “The way Martinelli is being treated at the moment, it really makes me feel uncomfortable,” he said, allowing that the player may well need to move on but arguing there are ways of going about it.
Martinelli joined from Ituano in July 2019 for about £6m and has scored 62 goals in more than 260 games for the club. Being dropped is one thing. Not being registered for a final is another.
Only one of these clubs is in a hurry
The Premier League window closes at 11pm UK time on Tuesday 1 September. The Saudi Pro League window stays open until Monday 12 October. Al-Hilal can let the clock run, and if the price has not come down by Tuesday they can come back weeks later, by which point Arsenal will have lost the chance to spend whatever they receive.
Aston Villa are in the same squeeze over Ollie Watkins, and it is fast becoming the standard shape of any deal between a Premier League club and a Saudi one. Arsenal go to Villa Park on Monday night. Neither manager will enjoy the questions.