RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Saudi Pro League club Al-Hilal are making final arrangements for the signing of winger Gabriel Martinelli from Arsenal , according to CBS Sports sources. A medical has been booked for this weekend to finalize the deal, which CBS Sports revealed on Tuesday would earn the Gunners a guaranteed $67.5 million with a further $9.3 million in add-ons .
Al-Hilal hope to announce the transfer over the weekend with Martinelli set to put pen to paper on a contract that will earn him over $23 million a year. The sale is a record for Arsenal, far eclipsing the £35 million they banked for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain three years ago. The Gunners will not bank all of that money, however, as they agreed a sell-on clause with Ituano when they signed him for £6 million in 2019.
Martinelli trained with his teammates on Friday morning and Mikel Arteta insisted that he remains an Arsenal player. That could soon change. "That's a personal situation that we are dealing with," said the Arsenal manager, making reference to the decision to sideline Gabriel Jesus from first-team training due to numbers being too high. "Everybody knows and recognizes how much we love Gabi [Martinelli]. Whatever the outcome is, it will be because everyone agrees to that."
Martinelli had held talks with Arteta earlier this month in which it was reaffirmed to the 25-year-old that he would play a diminished role in Arsenal's title defense. Martinelli was not involved in the matchday squad for either the Community Shield or the Premier League opener against Coventry City, a spot on the left wing seemingly Christos Tzolis ' to lose.
"I'm very satisfied how these conversations went," said Arteta, again referencing Jesus as well as Martinelli. "I know what is in each other's hearts and the words that came through in those conversations made me really happy. It is inevitable that at some point you need to have certain discussions and say certain things which are tough."
Martinelli is not the only Arsenal player in line to leave before the window closes. Jesus' absence from training comes amid interest from Napoli and Everton but also speculation that the No. 9 may choose to see out the remaining year of his contract in north London even though he is unlikely to figure as anything more than a third-choice striker.
Addressing Jesus' absence from training, Arteta said, "It's something to do with the numbers that we have in the squad at the moment and the way we're managing that kind of situation individually with all the players that have some personal situations. Personal situations, whatever they are, I think it's clear."
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