Gabriel Martinelli’s agent reveals Premier League offer before Arsenal exit

Gabriel Martinelli rejected an offer from another Premier League club in the summer before joining AL-Hilal from Arsenal.

The Brazil international ended his seven-year spell in north London in early September after being told by Mikel Arteta he was no longer part of his plans this season.

The deal earned the Gunners a guaranteed £60million with the forward earning significantly more than the reported £180,000-a-week he earned in England.

Gunners legend Ian Wright was among those critical of the decision to let Martinelli go, believing the club should have treated the 25-year-old with more ‘respect’.

His agent Marcos Casseb now says it was ‘the right time’ for his client to move on.

Martinelli had offers from clubs in Italy and Germany with unnamed Premier League clubs also interested in keeping him in England.

Casseb told Brazilian news outlet Itatiaia Esporte: ‘His time at Arsenal has come to an end. It was seven years; he arrived there at 18 years old.

‘Arsenal underwent a massive restructuring and, last year, they won the Premier League. We felt it was time for him to move on, and the club had also seen it that way. It was a very good departure for him and for Arsenal.

‘Besides everything else, he also became Arsenal’s biggest-ever sale and he still helped Arsenal make a lot of money from his departure.

‘Did he get offers? He did yeah. We had offers from Italian clubs, we had offers from German clubs and we had offers from other Premier League clubs but it was a moment when I think he needed and he also wanted to clear his head a bit, to change scenery.

‘He went to the biggest club in Asia to be part of a very ambitious project. You can see it in the players that they have brought in, three players who were at the World Cup, each with their respective national teams and three players that are under 27.

‘That’s a trend in Arab football right now, they’re changing the way they want to sign players.

‘They’ve been trying to do that – lower the average age of the league – and their project has attracted a lot of attention I think it was really important now for a change of scenery.’