Man Utd keen on Arsenal forward Martinelli amid battle with European giants
Ciaran McCarthy
Manchester United are linked with the signing of Arsenal forward Gabriel Martinelli, along with some European giants, per Calciomercato.
United finished last season strongly, with a third-placed finish. They have given Michael Carrick the manager's role permanently and are looking to improve their squad this summer.
Midfield moves are the priority, with Andrey Santos and Youri Tielemans through the door, and one more to come, but the Red Devils are expected to recruit in other positions.
A few attackers have been linked with moves to Old Trafford, and among them is Arsenal's Martinelli.
Calciomercato reports United are one of the clubs who have shown interest in the Brazilian, who it's believed is on his way out the door at the Emirates.
Intermediaries have reportedly indicated his price tag would be around €50million (£42.6m), which piqued the interest not only of United, but also Newcastle, Bayern Munich and some Turkish and Saudi sides.
However, there is a suggestion that Arsenal could drop their asking price below the current one, making a summer transfer a very real possibility.
Italian giants interested in Martinelli
Some new clubs have also placed Martinelli on their radar, according to the report.
It's claimed that both Juventus and Roma are looking for attacking reinforcements and Martinelli's name has cropped up in both offices.
Both are said to have enquired about the situation of the Arsenal man, who last season was directly involved in just five Premier League goals.
The suggestion is that for the Italian clubs, Martinelli's contract situation could be a barrier to the signing.
He's said to earn around €7.5million (£6.4m) per season, which works out at £180,000 per week.
Juventus have two players who earn essentially that same salary, Kenan Yildiz and Jonathan David, and Roma don't have a single player on that sort of money.
As such, it could indeed be problematic for them to sign Martinelli to that sort of contract.
Should his transfer fee drop, as has been suggested, that could make things easier, but he might have to accept a lower salary - or become one of the top earners at either club - to join them.
