PSG open talks with Gabriel Martinelli’s camp ahead of a summer move from Arsenal
Paris Saint-Germain have opened the summer window early. Sporting director Luis Campos held a meeting with Gabriel Martinelli’s representatives this week, according to L’Equipe, a first step towards what could become a serious bid for the Arsenal winger when the market opens in June.
Martinelli is contracted at the Emirates until 2027 and Arsenal have not signalled they want him gone. The situation is more about PSG making the running than Arsenal actively looking to sell, but a club that wants funds for its own recruitment has to listen when a buyer of PSG’s size arrives at the door.
Why PSG want him now
PSG reached a second straight Champions League semi-final last week with a 2-0 win at Anfield, and Campos has been public about wanting to strengthen the forward line again in the summer. Ousmane Dembele and Bradley Barcola remain the wide attacking starters, but the squad still lacks a third option of first-team quality in those positions. Martinelli, 24, fits the profile they have signed for repeatedly under Campos: still with room to grow, already Champions League-tested, and available at a price a Premier League club might actually accept.
PSG have cast a wide net. They also met representatives of RB Leipzig forward Yan Diomande this month, although any deal for the Ivorian would probably push past €100 million. Martinelli’s market value sits below that and Arsenal’s contract situation gives them a timing window where they cannot easily let him run down the deal if the player’s head has turned.
Arsenal’s summer math
Mikel Arteta’s recruitment plan next summer is being built around attacking additions. Julian Alvarez has been linked as one of the targets, and reporting from Football Transfers suggests Arsenal would need to raise funds through sales to make a bid of that size workable. Martinelli has become the most marketable of their wide attackers simply because the demand is there.
The player himself has been in and out of Arteta’s XI this season. He was on the bench for the 2-1 defeat at the Etihad on Sunday, with Noni Madueke and Kai Havertz preferred in the forward line, and he has rotated with Leandro Trossard on the left for much of the campaign. A move to PSG would not be obviously a step up in terms of league standard, but the Champions League run the club has had and the weight of regular first-team minutes would appeal to a player who has spent stretches of the season as the fourth attacker off the bench.
Where the conversation goes next
There is a gap between an agent meeting and a formal bid. Arsenal have not been approached by PSG directly yet, and there is no suggestion the club has put Martinelli on the market. What there is, though, is a clear signal from Paris that this is one of the names at the top of their summer list, which is the stage at which every big transfer starts.
For Arsenal the next few weeks carry a slightly different weight. If the title race stays alive into May, the mood around the club changes completely and the case for selling a 24-year-old winger who has been a regular in the Arsenal first team for four years weakens. If the title slips, and the summer brief becomes rebuild-for-next-year, Martinelli is the kind of asset Arsenal might find themselves ready to price properly.
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