Al-Hilal Beat Serie A Heavyweight for Arsenal Attacker

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Milan, Napoli, and Roma have all been linked to Gabriel Martinelli at some point during the summer, but Al-Hilal are on the verge of winning the race thanks to a very lucrative offer, both to Arsenal and on his personal terms, Gianluca Di Marzio reports.

The two clubs are ironing out the final details of the agreement. The package amounts to roughly €60M. It’ll be a mammoth ‘plusvalenza’ for the Gunners, which paid just €11M to acquire him. His first team, Ituano, will also cash in too thanks to a 20 percent sell-on clause.

Martinelli is leaving Arsenal after 7 seasons, during which he accrued 278 appearances, scoring 62 goals and providing 36 assists. Al-Hilal coach Simone Inzaghi has been proactive in the chase to convince the attacker to move to the Saudi Pro League.

The Brazilian international isn’t the only top-shelf forward they pursued this summer. They previously reached out to the entourage of Francisco Conceiçao, Fabrizio Romano reports (via Calciomercato). Juventus could still opt to sell somebody noteworthy this week. However, the speedster has publicly been deemed untouchable by coach Luciano Spalletti.

Our Take on Martinelli

He would have been an excellent acquisition for several sides, but in reality, despite the chatter fueled by his agents to drum up interest, he was never close to moving to Italy. Milan were the most likely destination in the Peninsula , considering they have shelled out some big fees this summer, but they too have been careful with their payroll. His wages are out of reach for Serie A standards, even more so with Al-Hilal driving up his demands.

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