The Gabriel Martinelli dilemma: The higher Arsenal climb, the more ruthless they may have to be

There are few colder realities in football than discovering your club has decided you are expendable.

Colder still, perhaps, is discovering others knew before you did.

Arsenal are hoping to sell Gabriel Martinelli. The club have welcomed offers for the 25-year-old Brazil international, and recently received a €45million (£38.4m; $51.8m) bid from Galatasaray.

The problem is that Martinelli himself has not been directly informed of Arsenal’s plans — and nor, until now, has he sought to leave. The player’s camp have made clear to sporting director Andrea Berta he is not interested in a move to Turkey, and would only consider leaving for a league and club that meets his ambition.

There is nothing fundamentally wrong with Arsenal deciding to sell Martinelli. Elite football demands difficult, sometimes brutal decisions.

Mikel Arteta has spent years stripping unhelpful sentimentality out of Arsenal. That ruthlessness has largely served the club well. Players have been discarded, standards raised and difficult calls made in pursuit of a team capable of winning the biggest prizes. Last season, that project came to fruition when Arsenal lifted a first Premier League title for 22 years.

Martinelli would not be the first to be sacrificed on the altar of progress. Other fan favourites, such as Aaron Ramsdale and Emile Smith Rowe, were also sold when Arteta deemed the team to have evolved beyond them.

Martinelli has been with Arsenal for seven years. Although he scored 10 goals in knockout competitions last season, including six in the Champions League, 30 Premier League appearances yielded just one goal.

Gabriel Martinelli has been at Arsenal for seven years (Stuart MacFarlane/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

He signed his most recent contract in February 2023. That is due to expire next summer, although Arsenal hold an option for an extra year. There have been no talks about an extension. Arsenal recognise this may be one of their last chances to secure a significant fee.

In recent windows, Arteta and Arsenal have been open to trading Martinelli to refresh their options on the left. Christos Tzolis has already been signed to replace Leandro Trossard, and Martinelli can not have failed to notice the high-profile pursuits of compatriot Vinicius Junior and Morgan Rogers.

Being left out of Arsenal’s matchday squad for the Community Shield does not augur well for Martinelli’s future. Arteta named Bukayo Saka and 16-year-old Max Dowman among his nine substitutes, ostensibly both covering the right-wing position — yet there was no place for Martinelli. As Arsenal celebrated winning the 2026-27 curtain-raiser, Martinelli stayed largely on the sidelines.

He looked like a player unsure of his place. It is painful to feel unwanted.

It is painful for many Arsenal fans, too. Martinelli is loved by many supporters. He’s a dedicated professional whose combination of skill and endeavour made him one of the faces of Arsenal’s rebuild. Once Smith Rowe’s contribution began to wane, Martinelli took over as Saka’s partner in crime.

When Arsenal lifted the Premier League trophy in May, Martinelli’s comments made his love for the club plain.

“We didn’t just build a team, we built a family, an identity, and something the fans could believe in again,” he wrote on Instagram. “To see this club back where it belongs is one of the proudest moments of my career.”

All good things come to an end. Football clubs have to determine when to replace players — even when the incumbent is popular, committed and useful.

But after seven years of service, perhaps Martinelli is entitled to expect more candour from his employer.

Arsenal aren’t obliged to ask anyone’s permission before exploring the market — clubs routinely sound out interest and explore deals informally.

But at what stage does that tip over into actively working to secure a sale? If Arsenal are seeking to engineer Martinelli’s exit, surely the player deserves to know where he stands. Martinelli is entitled, too, to turn down the move if it does not appeal.

There may be a simple explanation: perhaps Arsenal have not told Martinelli they intend to sell him because they are not certain they will. For all the talk of upgrading, Rogers and Vinicius Jr have eluded them, and the list of plausible upgrades is dwindling. This may be pure pragmatism — something we have come to expect from Arteta, and indeed Berta.

Alternatively, perhaps Arsenal’s actions are driven by an increasing pressure to sell. The club entered the window with an ambitious sales plan, most of which has not yet materialised. Arsenal are now having to pursue sales more aggressively by soliciting bids from other clubs. Martinelli may be caught up in that — as may Myles Lewis-Skelly, reputedly offered to Manchester United and Chelsea by intermediaries.

It is not a straightforward situation. Arteta is clearly skilled at fostering a sense of togetherness and unity among the squad. When a player no longer forms part of his plans, however, he has shown a capacity to be ruthless. Elite sport demands that mentality.

The danger occurs if that ruthlessness veers into institutional coldness. Players and agents take note of how players are treated. And the remaining squad learns something about what loyalty to the club is ultimately worth.

Perhaps this is simply what Arsenal becoming a serious superclub looks like. Perhaps there is always another upgrade to find, another margin to exploit, another player whose value can be converted into somebody better.

The higher Arsenal climb, the finer those margins become, and the more ruthless Arteta and Arsenal may have to be.

Martinelli felt he found a “family” at Arsenal. How the club handle his uncertain future may determine whether that feeling endures.