Mikel Arteta and Edu Gaspar have overseen a complete overhaul of the squad in the last few years, with Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Mesut Özil leaving and stars like Martin Odegaard, Declan Rice, and Kai Havertz coming in.
The latest exciting star touted for a move to the Emirates is Athletic Bilbao's Nico Williams.
Nico-Williams-Euro-2024-Spain
While he'd likely be a success in North London, the Gunners already have an incredibly talented left-winger worth even more in the squad.
Gabriel Martinelli's valuation in 2024
The player in question is none other than Brazilian dynamo Gabriel Martinelli, who might just be one of the Gunners' best transfers in recent memory.
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Edu masterminded his move from Brazilian fourth-tier outfit Ituano to Arsenal in the summer of 2019 for a meagre fee of £6m - talk about a bargain buy.
In his first campaign in N5, the "sensational" winger, as dubbed U23 scout Antonio Mango, racked up a genuinely impressive haul of ten goals and four assists in just 26 games, and if it wasn't for a really unfortunate knee injury, he might well have ended his debut campaign with 20 goal involvements.
His next significant contribution to the team came in the 2021/22 season when he scored six goals and provided seven assists in 36 matches, but his best campaign to date came just a year later.
During the Gunners' shock title charge in 2022/23, the Guarulhos-born dynamo found the back of the net on 15 occasions and provided six assists in just 46 games. While he couldn't get the team over the line, he had well and truly announced his arrival as one of the best wingers in the league.
Martinelli's Arsenal career
Season
Appearances
Goals
Assists
Goal Involvements per Match
2019/20
26
10
4
0.53
2020/21
22
2
2
0.18
2021/22
36
6
7
0.36
2022/23
46
15
6
0.45
2023/24
44
8
5
0.29
All Stats via Transfermarkt
Last season was less successful for the 22-year-old. He still managed a respectable eight goals and five assists in 44 games, but by his own high standards, he was slightly off the pace for much of the campaign, likely not helped by the departure of Granit Xhaka in the summer and the constant changes at left-back.
However, despite his slight downturn in form, the Brazilian's valuation is still higher than the latest winger touted for a move to the club.
Gabriel-Martinelli-Arsenal-Luton
Gabriel Martinelli's valuation
Williams is just one player who has caught the public's attention at the Euros this summer. The Spaniard might not have scored any goals or provided any assists in the competition just yet, but his overall performance has been excellent, as evidenced by his Player of the Match award for the game against Italy.
The 21-year-old has been linked to several clubs this summer, but according to recent reports, Arsenal are prepared to pay his hefty €58m release clause, which converts to around £49m. While that is a lot of money, it's less than Martinelli is currently valued at.
According to the CIES Football Observatory, the former Ituano gem is worth a whopping €100m, which is about £84m, or £35m more than the club are prepared to pay for the Bilbao ace.
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The reasons for the Brazilian's massive price tag are fairly straightforward.
First, he's still relatively young at 22 years old, and while he's been in and around the first team for a while now, he should have at least a decade left at the top of the game should he remain fit.
Arsenal winger Gabriel Martinelli
The second reason is that even in a supposed 'off' campaign like last season, the 5 foot 10 "monster", as journalist Mark Mann-Bryans described him, still racked up 13 goal involvements, and given his age, there is no reason to think he won't keep on improving over the coming years.
The last reason is that his £180k-per-week contract runs until summer 2027, so there is no rush to either sell or agree a new deal with him at the moment.
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