Turkish giants open talks for Arsenal star Martinelli, with Gunners move expected
Ciaran McCarthy
Turkish giants Galatasaray have made Gabriel Martinelli an option for their front line, having made an exploratory approach to Arsenal, reports insider Ben Jacobs.
Galatasaray have been sniffing around the signing of AC Milan's Rafael Leao this summer. He's expected to leave the Italian giants, with a £60million price tag reported.
There are suggestions in some reports that the Turkish club will wait until September to go fully in for Leao, by which point they expect his transfer fee to have been lowered by Milan.
Prior to that, though, Jacobs reports Arsenal winger Martinelli is a potential option, given talks for Leao have failed to produce a breakthrough as yet.
Galatasaray have made an approach to the Gunners over the weekend for the Brazilian winger, though it's not clear quite how much money he'd command.
One point of note is that Arsenal aren't expected to sanction Martinelli's exit without first adding another forward to their ranks.
Indeed, they've already sold Leandro Trossard this summer, replaced by new signing Christos Tzolis - so Martinelli's exit would prompt another replacement.
Arteta wants more signings
It is evident that Arsenal want more recruits through the door, having spent much of the summer linked with Julian Alvarez, for who they've struggled to come to an agreement with Atletico Madrid just yet.
But Gunners boss Mikel Arteta has admitted a desire to add more talent to his squad.
He said: "Well, that's what we're trying to do.
"It has to be the right player in the market to make us much better. We are very much looking forward to that."
Arsenal have seemingly found the right player in Bruno Guimaraes, a man they were tracking for much of the summer. But they missed out on Morgan Rogers, who headed to Chelsea, while Vinicius Junior remained at Real Madrid and there's no progress on Alvarez right now.
Who exactly Arteta wants and will get remains to be seen, as most of the big-name options Arsenal have pursued have failed to come to fruition.
