Gabriel Martinelli’s Arsenal story is over. On 3 September 2026, the Brazilian winger joined Al-Hilal in a £55.7m deal, the biggest sale in Arsenal’s history. It beats the £40m Liverpool paid for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in 2017.
The Martinelli Al-Hilal transfer comes only weeks after he helped Arsenal win the Premier League. He leaves north London as a champion.
From £6m teenager to Premier League champion
Martinelli arrived from Brazilian club Ituano in July 2019. He was 18, cost around £6m, and was mostly unknown in Europe. Seven years later he left with 62 goals in 278 appearances.
His best season was 2022-23. He scored 15 Premier League goals, equalling Roberto Firmino’s record for a Brazilian in a single Premier League season. He won the FA Cup in 2020, the Community Shield in 2023, and the Premier League title in 2025-26, when Arsenal also reached the Champions League final.
Why Arsenal sold, and why he chose Al-Hilal
His role had shrunk. Last season he made 30 league appearances but started only 11, and new signing Christos Tzolis is now Arsenal’s option on the left.
Martinelli had turned down Galatasaray earlier in the summer. Al-Hilal offered a bigger project: they had already signed Crysencio Summerville from West Ham for £60m. Arsenal also kept a sell-on clause, so they will benefit if Al-Hilal sell him on for more.
The money shows how serious the Saudi club were. Galatasaray’s offer earlier in the summer was worth around £38.9m, well below what Al-Hilal paid. At 25, Martinelli is also younger than most big-name players who move to the Saudi Pro League, many of whom arrive at the end of their careers.
Martinelli Al-Hilal transfer: the numbers
| Fee | £55.7m (Arsenal club record) |
| Signed from Ituano | 2019, around £6m |
| Arsenal record | 278 appearances, 62 goals |
| Honours | Premier League 2025-26, FA Cup 2020, Community Shield 2023 |
| Brazil | 27 caps, Olympic gold 2021 |
What the move means for his Brazil career
The biggest question for Martinelli is his place in the Brazil squad. He has 27 caps, won Olympic gold at the Tokyo Games, and played at both the 2022 and 2026 World Cups.
Playing in the Saudi Pro League hasn’t stopped others being picked. Neymar and several other Brazilians kept their international places after moving to the Gulf. To stay in the squad, Martinelli will need regular starts and goals, and that’s exactly what the move should give him.
What it means for Arsenal
The sale was part of a big clear-out:
- Gabriel Jesus joined Barcelona for £8.6m on deadline day. He scored 32 goals in 123 games after arriving from Manchester City for £45m in 2022.
- Fabio Vieira joined Hamburg for about £7.7m.
- Leandro Trossard had already left for Besiktas for £17m.
Together, the sales bring Arsenal more than £120m this summer, money Arteta can reinvest in a title defence. It also marks the end of an era: Bukayo Saka is now the only player left from Arteta’s first squad in 2019.
Our take
Selling a title winner is never easy. But Arsenal turned a £6m signing into a £55.7m sale, and Martinelli gets the starting role he was missing. Ian Wright said he “deserved more respect” in how his exit was handled. Few fans would disagree that he earned his place in Arsenal history.
Sources: Sky Sports; Yahoo Sports; ESPN; Wikipedia.
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