Gabriel Martinelli has been linked with a big money move to Bayern Munich this summer.
German champions Bayern Munich are believed to be weighing up a move for talented Arsenal winger Gabriel Martinelli as they continue to scour the market for attacking reinforcements.
Leroy Sane recently left the Allianz Arena on a free transfer to join Galatasaray while efforts to land both Florian Wirtz and Nico Williams have been unsuccessful, with the former joining Liverpool and the latter committing his long-term future to Athletic Bilbao.
The Bundesliga heavyweights want to boost their options on the left-wing. The Athletic reports Martinelli has been sounded out as a potential option for Vincent Kompany’s side along with Liverpool playmaker Luis Diaz.
Bayern have already an offer in the region of £58m turned down for Diaz but could now still shift their attention towards Martinelli.
Gabriel Martinelli joined Arsenal as something of an unknown quantity in 2019. He cost the Gunners £6m and was signed by Ituano, a second tier Brazilian side based in Sao Paulo. It marked one of Unai Emery’s shrewdest signings at Arsenal but he wouldn’t see much of him in action before being dismissed midway through the 2019/20 season with Mikel Arteta replacing him.
Martinelli, as expected for a teenage winger, took time to settle but showed glimpses of potential as he scored a combined five goals in the Premier League during his first two seasons.
The 2021/22 season was the first example of him becoming a regular starter as he scored and assisted six in 36 matches for the Gunners. But the best was still to come as he exploded to life with 15 league goals and seven assists in the 2022/23 campaign as Arsenal defied the odds to finish second.
The Brazilian has remained a regular fixture in the team ever since but with a combined 14 league goals and eight assists across the last two seasons, has never quite hit the incredible numbers he’d managed in years gone by.
Still only 24, it’s likely Martinelli will still have a big role to play in North London, although it’s likely that Leandro Trossard, who out-scored and assisted him last year in fewer appearances and £50m signing Noni Madueke will give him a run for his money. Quite how much Bayern are willing to pay for Martinelli remains to be seen but it’s speculated that a sale could potentially enable Arsenal to out and sign one of their big name targets. Football Insider has speculated that a figure in the region of £70m could be enough to get the wheels in motion.
It’s well documented that title hopefuls Arsenal are in the market for a striker this summer after a hat-trick of second place finishes for Mikel Arteta and his team. It’s been more than 20 years since they were last crowned champions of England and a clinical striker could be the key to breaking that long-standing record.
As it stands, Arsenal are thought to be interested in Victor Gyokeres and while that deal is likely to go through, it’s not beyond the realms of possibility that the Gunners could add one more proven goalscorer to the frontline to help boost their chances of competing on all fronts.
In the past, Arsenal have left the likes of Mika Biereth, Eddie Nketiah and Folarin Balogun all depart, but the one from back in the Arsene Wenger days that still stings hard is the sale of Serge Gnabry to Werder Bremen for just £5m.
Gnabry, who was labelled by Tony Pulis as not the required level to play for West Brom during a failed loan spell a decade ago, has since gone onto sign for Bayern Munich win six Bundesliga titles, two DFB Pokals, the Champions League and the Club World Cup, all while playing 51 times for Germany and scoring 22 goals.
He’s scored 93 in 285 games for Bayern across all competitions and has also managed an incredible 60 assists. Gnabry notably hit double figures in every league campaign between 2018 and 2023 but has dropped slightly down the pecking order since the arrival of Harry Kane.
Gnabry is notably six years older than Martinelli and as such is likely to have a cheaper value than the Brazilian. However, it could be argued that due to his experience of getting over the line and winning things, it would be worth Arsenal asking for a slightly cut price figure for Martinelli while bringing Gnabry back to the side as part of the trade.
Gnabry is versatile enough to play both as a left-winger and as a forward, making him potentially a shrewd piece of business for Arteta’s side if Martinelli was to become unsettled.
