Gabriel Martinelli has joined Al Hilal from Arsenal in a club-record transfer worth £60m, with the agreement also including a sell-on fee.
The deal eclipses Arsenal’s previous record sale, when Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain moved to Liverpool for £40m in the summer of 2017. Martinelli’s transfer therefore represents the highest fee the Gunners have received for a player.
Martinelli joined Arsenal from Brazilian club Ituano in 2019, arriving as an 18-year-old. Because he was signed from Ituano and has now been sold for a substantial fee, the transfer will be recorded as pure profit in Arsenal’s accounts.
The 25-year-old’s move to Saudi Arabia comes after he rejected the opportunity to join Galatasaray earlier this summer. The Turkish club had made an offer of about £38.9m for the forward, but Martinelli was not interested in moving to Turkey at this stage of his career.
His transfer to Al Hilal takes Arsenal’s income from player sales this summer beyond £120m. The club-record departure adds to a significant period of outgoing business, with Arsenal receiving fees for a number of players during the current transfer window.
Martinelli leaves Arsenal after six years with the club. He made 191 Premier League appearances for the Gunners, scoring 41 goals and supplying 24 assists.
He played 30 league matches last season as Arsenal ended their 22-year wait to win the Premier League title. However, only 11 of those appearances came as starts, which was Martinelli’s lowest starting total since the 2020-21 season.
The reduced number of starts came during a campaign in which his involvement was more limited than in previous years. Nevertheless, his overall record at Arsenal includes more than 190 Premier League appearances and 41 goals.
His departure brings an end to a spell that began when he moved from Ituano as a teenager and developed into an established Premier League player. Arsenal’s sale of Martinelli also surpasses the fee received for Oxlade-Chamberlain, setting a new benchmark for player sales in the club’s history.
Al Hilal have completed the deal for Martinelli after Arsenal agreed the £60m package, including the sell-on provision. The transfer gives the Saudi Arabian club a new attacking option while providing Arsenal with their most lucrative sale to date.
The Brazilian’s move is also the latest stage in a summer in which Arsenal’s total proceeds from player departures have passed the £120m mark. More details are expected to follow.
