The Brazilian hasn’t had the easiest of campaigns. He struggled with form at the start of this term and then suffered an injury in February.
Martinelli is capable of so much more, but after seeing his struggles under Mikel Arteta this season, speculation about his future emerged.
Interest from the Saudi Pro League came earlier in this campaign, and once Arsenal found out about it, they had a conversation with their number 11.
What Arsenal told Gabriel Martinelli after Saudi interest
Arsenal signed Martinelli for just £6 million in the summer of 2019.
The Brazilian was an unknown quantity to many in England – nobody had even heard of him. But, the then-teenager took the Premier League by storm.
Martinelli was fantastic under Unai Emery and did pretty well after Arteta came in too. Then, in the 2022/23 season, he smashed 15 Premier League goals and made a name for himself as one of the best wingers in the country.
However, the last two seasons have been a struggle for Martinelli, and that led to some transfer interest from the wealthy clubs in Saudi Arabia.
GiveMeSport have revealed that Arsenal were aware of that interest, and they had a quick chat with Martinelli about his future.
It has been claimed that the Gunners told the Brazilian in January that they would be willing to offer him a brand new contract to extend his stay at the club.
Martinelli’s current deal expires in 2027, but Arsenal have an option to extend that by another year.
Photo by Jacques Feeney/Offside/Offside via Getty Images
Photo by Jacques Feeney/Offside/Offside via Getty Images
What Martinelli once said about his Arsenal future
Despite his struggles this season, Martinelli was outstanding against Fulham and reminded everyone what he is capable of.
That is why Arsenal want to keep him and are ready to offer him a new deal, and fans of the Emirates Stadium club will love what the Brazil international once said about his Gunners future.
Back in 2022, when Arsenal were trying to tie Martinelli down to a new contract, the forward publicly claimed that he wants to stay at the club forever.
He told ESPN Brasil at the time: “Of course, Arsenal are a giant team. If I can, I’ll stay here my whole life. I want to conquer things, I already said, I want to stay here and win titles, with this wonderful crowd, my teammates.
“We have a young group, we have a lot of time ahead of us, players with a lot of quality, I think we will achieve great things.”
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