Bayern Munich considered the signing of Gabriel Martinelli this summer, but the amount they were willing to offer was nowhere near Arsenal’s valuation.
Fabrizio Romano reports on his YouTube channel that Gabriel Martinelli was one of Bayern Munich’s targets this summer, with the club speaking to the player’s representatives and holding positive conversations.
But Martinelli is ‘very happy’ at Arsenal, and the Gunners showed no intention to accept an apparent proposal in the region of €30-35m (£26-30.3m). Arsenal understandably feel the player is worth way more than that, so the negotiation never advanced.
Romano reiterates that Martinelli was a serious target for Bayern at the start of the window, but given the financial issues between the two clubs it didn’t go any further.
Romano’s report tallies with recent claims from Isaan Khan and Simon Jones of the Daily Mail that though Arsenal were open to selling Martinelli, the summer interest never reached the figures they would have considered accepting.
The Daily Mail claim Arsenal valued Martinelli at more than £60m, and the interest in him only reached the £40m mark. To avoid a transfer saga dragging out over the entire summer window, Arsenal opted not to sell at all.
In a window where many Premier League wingers went for fees around £50m, including one to Arsenal themselves, the fact that Bayern were apparently willing to pay less than £30m made the decision even easier to make.
“I think Gabi has been a super important player for us and he’s going to remain very, very, very important,” Mikel Arteta said in the final days of the summer window.
“The fact that we have options with different qualities, that’s going to fulfil what we want, because every opponent is going to require different things.
“Then the state, the moment, the way that those players are impacting the game – that competition is needed. We have it in many other areas on the pitch and it’s needed, especially in the front line, to start the game and to finish the game. So, I’m very happy with what we have.”
Perhaps there was a world where Martinelli left for a significant fee and Arsenal reinvested that money in the summer market, but the Gunners weren’t going to let him go for very little without a replacement lined up.