Gabriel Martinelli has left Arsenal, joining Saudi Pro League side Al Hilal in a club-record £60 million transfer deal.
The Brazilian forward’s departure brings an end to seven years in North London, having joined Arsenal from Brazilian side Ituano as an 18-year-old in 2019.
Martinelli leaves the Gunners as their most expensive player sale ever, surpassing the £40m Arsenal received from Liverpool for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in 2017.
The deal also includes a sell-on clause, while the entire £60m is a fixed fee. With Martinelli having joined Arsenal for a relatively small fee, his departure represents pure profit on the club’s books.
Martinelli’s Arsenal career comes to an end
Martinelli quickly became an important part of Arsenal’s attack after arriving in England, and went on to make 191 Premier League appearances for the club.
The 25-year-old scored 41 league goals and provided 24 assists during his time with the Gunners, including a particularly impressive 2022/23 campaign.
That season saw Martinelli score 15 Premier League goals as Arsenal pushed Manchester City all the way in the title race.
However, his importance to the team gradually decreased, particularly during Arsenal’s title-winning 2025/26 campaign.
Martinelli made 30 league appearances last season but started just 11 games, his lowest number of Premier League starts since the 2020/21 season.
He had also fallen behind Christos Tzolis and Eberechi Eze in the pecking order on the left side of Arsenal’s attack.
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A major financial win for Arsenal
While losing Martinelli will leave Arsenal with less depth in attack, his departure is undoubtedly a significant financial boost.
The £60m deal takes Arsenal’s total income from player sales this summer to more than £120m, giving the club another substantial amount of money to work with.
Martinelli had previously turned down a move to Galatasaray, with the Turkish club offering around £38.9m for the Brazilian.
His decision to join Al Hilal instead means Arsenal have ultimately secured a much larger fee for a player who had become less important under Mikel Arteta.
It also marks another major step in Arteta’s rebuilding of the squad.
Following Martinelli’s departure, Bukayo Saka is now the only player remaining from the squad Arteta inherited when he became Arsenal manager in December 2019.
From a side that once included the likes of David Luiz and Alexandre Lacazette, Arteta has completely transformed Arsenal into Premier League champions.
Martinelli played an important role in that journey, but his record-breaking departure shows just how much the squad has changed since those early days.
