Arsenal are expected to announce the signing of Gabriel Martinelli ‘imminently’ according to a report from Globo, via Sambafoot.

It was reported that Arsenal had reached an agreement to sign the player and an announcement would be made shortly after his 18th birthday, which was on Tuesday, back in April.

Last week, the player followed Arsenal on Instagram.

Usually, when a story comes out about a player following a club on Instagram or Twitter, it turns out the player had already been following the team for months or years. In this case, however, we’ve confirmed that this is a new follow:

Gabriel Martinelli followed Arsenal on Instagram last night. Rumours suggest we’ll sign him when he turns 18 on June 18th. pic.twitter.com/nxy3JC8Vi9

— Dan Critchlow (@afcDW) June 11, 2019

The reason for holding off with the announcement is likely to do with the new kit being launched on July 1. If Arsenal announce him now he will have to pose in the Puma kit.

Arsenal scouts watched the player a lot last season and they held conversations with him back in February. Martinelli spoke to other Premier League clubs at the same time, but none of them were apparently as convincing as Arsenal.

Martinelli caught the eye in this year’s Campeonato Paulista, as he scored six goals and assisted three in 14 appearances. That put him just one goal off the competition’s top scorer and two assists off the top assist provider, despite his young age.

It’s a different prospect playing at the top level in English football, but Arsenal’s scouting team are clearly convinced he has the raw talent and his move is reportedly connected to Edu’s arrival next month as technical director.

Martinelli will reportedly cost around €7.5m.