Arsenal
Arsenal set to unveil 1st signing after agreeing £6m deal for South American forward
Arsenal are set to unveil their first signing of the summer after agreeing a £6m deal to sign Ituano forward Gabriel Martinelli
Managers are working hard trying to strengthen their squads during the summer transfer window so we’ll bring you all the latest news and gossip from around the globe. Today, Arsenal are set to sign Gabriel Martinelli…
Arsenal are set to unveil their first signing of the summer after agreeing a £6m deal to sign Ituano forward Gabriel Martinelli, according to Football London.
Martinelli came through the youth system at Corinthians before joining Ituano in 2015 and he became the youngest player to represent the club this century after making his first team debut in March 2018 aged just 16.
The pacey forward has developed into one of the hottest young talents in Brazilian football having scored 10 goals in 31 games and his potential alerted top European clubs with Football London suggesting Arsenal, Barcelona and Manchester United have all been keeping an eye on his progress.
However, Arsenal emerged as front-runners to sign Martinelli with Yahoo Esportes reporting in March that we had reached a verbal agreement with the 17-year-old after fending off competition from 25 other clubs.
It appears a deal is now on the verge of completion as Football London are reporting that Arsenal have agreed a £6m deal with the strikers agent, Marcos Casseb, and are set to officially unveil the teenager as our first summer signing when he turns 18 later this month.
Football London claim that Arsenal’s Head of International Recruitment, Francis Cagigao, and soon-to-be new Technical Director, Edu, have both played a key role in luring Martinelli to the Emirates.
Martinelli won’t require a work permit after being granted an Italian passport and although he’s not expected to feature prominently in Unai Emery’s first team next season, the South American starlet will still be a hugely exciting signing for Arsenal.
It’s been a while since Arsenal pulled off a coup by beating other top European clubs to sign one of the hottest talents in world football and Martinelli certainly seems like he has a huge future ahead of him.
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The youngster could feature in Arsenal’s pre-season friendly at Boreham Wood in early July and he’ll be hoping to impress and earn a place in Emery’s squad for our pre-season tour of the US next month.
