Gabriel Martinelli Rejects Galatasaray Move Amid Arsenal's Transfer Plans
Gabriel Martinelli has made his position clear. He is not leaving Arsenal for Galatasaray.
The Brazilian winger’s camp has informed Arsenal’s hierarchy that he has no intention of joining the Turkish champions in this transfer window, despite a sizeable bid on the table.
According to The Athletic, Galatasaray have submitted an offer worth €45 million (around £38.4m) for the 25-year-old. For a club that entered the summer knowing it had to sell, that kind of figure demands attention. But not from Martinelli.
He does not want the move. Not now.
Contract secure, future undecided
Martinelli’s contract runs until 2027, with Arsenal holding an option to extend it by a further year to 2028. There have been no talks yet over a new deal beyond that, no fresh negotiation to reshape his future at the Emirates.
Inside the club, he is viewed as one of the players Arsenal could consider cashing in on if a truly compelling offer arrived. The numbers matter in this window, and few in the squad carry his combination of age, profile, and resale value.
Yet the player himself is not pushing. He wants to stay and fight for his place in a squad that just delivered a Premier League title and reached a Champions League final.
New faces, same ambition
Arsenal’s summer on the wings has not been quiet. The club moved for Greek winger Christos Tzolis from Club Brugge, adding another option out wide. They also explored a sensational move for Vinicius Junior before the Brazilian renewed with Real Madrid, closing that door.
Those moves underline the level Arsenal are operating at and the competition for attacking spots. They also frame the Galatasaray bid in a different light: this is not a club desperate to offload Martinelli, but one trying to juggle ambition with financial reality.
Balancing the books
Arsenal entered this transfer window knowing they had to sell. Not as a strategic preference, but as a financial necessity.
Leandro Trossard has already departed, joining Besiktas in a €20m deal. Christian Norgaard has moved to Everton for £7m. Useful business, but not enough to fully ease the pressure.
The message from inside the club is that more exits are likely required before the window closes. That is why a €45m offer for a wide player with strong market value cannot be ignored at board level, even if the player is unmoved by the prospect.
A core piece of the champions
Martinelli’s stance carries weight because of what he has already given Arsenal.
Signed from Brazilian side Ituano in 2019, he has grown from raw prospect to established first-teamer, racking up 278 appearances and scoring 62 goals in all competitions. Those are not squad-player numbers. They belong to a key figure in the Arteta era.
Last season he featured 53 times across competitions, scoring 11 goals and adding 7 assists as Arsenal lifted the Premier League trophy and pushed all the way to the Champions League final. He played his part in a campaign that re-established Arsenal among Europe’s elite.
Now comes the next phase: a title defence, another tilt at Europe, and a summer market that refuses to slow down.
Arsenal might be ready to listen. Galatasaray are clearly willing to pay.
But as it stands, Gabriel Martinelli has answered the only question that matters to him. He is staying put.
