Gabriel Martinelli Joins Al-Hilal: Why Arsenal’s Record Sale Ends a Seven-Year North London Era

Gabriel Martinelli has left Arsenal for Saudi Pro League club Al-Hilal on a permanent transfer, ending a seven-year spell in North London. The 25-year-old Brazil international signed a four-year contract with Al-Hilal on September 3, 2026, after Arsenal confirmed his departure. He leaves having made 278 appearances for the club and scored 62 goals across all competitions, while helping Arsenal win the Premier League, FA Cup and FA Community Shield.

The move is being reported at about £60 million, making Martinelli Arsenal’s record outgoing transfer according to multiple reports, although the exact financial structure should be treated with caution because the clubs did not publish a fee in their official announcements. The transfer also illustrates the changing Saudi Pro League strategy: Al-Hilal are no longer relying exclusively on established veteran superstars, but are increasingly able to attract high-level players who are still in their prime.

Martinelli’s Arsenal career in numbers

Martinelli arrived at Arsenal from Brazilian club Ituano in 2019 as a teenager and developed from an exciting prospect into an established Brazil international.

His seven seasons produced a substantial body of work:

The figures underline an important point about Martinelli’s Arsenal legacy: his value was not limited to Premier League scoring. In his final season, he scored 11 goals in 53 appearances, including six in the Champions League and four in the FA Cup, even though his league scoring output was only one goal.

That distribution matters when assessing his Arsenal career. Martinelli was often at his most dangerous when attacking space from wide areas, stretching defensive lines and contributing to Arsenal’s transition game. His numbers also reflect the reality of competing for attacking places in a squad containing players such as Bukayo Saka, Leandro Trossard and other high-level forwards.

What Martinelli won with Arsenal

Martinelli leaves at the end of a period in which Arsenal returned to the top of English football.

He was part of the squad that won the 2020 FA Cup, lifted the 2023 Community Shield, and secured the 2025–26 Premier League title. Arsenal’s title triumph gives his departure particular significance: he is not leaving a club that has merely been rebuilding, but a team that has finally converted sustained progress into a league championship.

His Arsenal career also included Champions League football, giving him experience at the highest level of European club competition before his move outside Europe.

That experience could become particularly valuable at Al-Hilal, where expectations are not simply to compete domestically but to remain a major force in Asian football.

Why Al-Hilal wanted Martinelli

Al-Hilal’s decision to sign Martinelli makes sense from both a sporting and strategic perspective.

At 25, he offers something different from the older global stars who helped generate worldwide attention for the Saudi Pro League during its initial recruitment boom. Martinelli is already an established international footballer, but he is young enough to remain a significant part of a squad for several seasons.

Al-Hilal’s official announcement says Martinelli signed for four years and was expected to join first-team training immediately, ahead of the club’s meeting with Al-Shabab.

The club has also described Martinelli’s arrival as part of its ambition to compete for titles. Martinelli himself said his objective was to win championships and make Al-Hilal supporters happy.

That makes the transfer more than a late-career destination. Martinelli is joining Al-Hilal at an age when many players would normally be entering their peak European years.

A different kind of Saudi Pro League transfer

The Martinelli deal is significant because of when it has happened in his career.

The first wave of Saudi recruitment generated headlines through established names at or near the end of their European careers. The emerging model is broader: clubs can now target players who are still young enough to provide several years of elite-level production.

Recent Al-Hilal recruitment has included other players with Premier League experience, while the club’s wider squad contains internationally recognised talent. Martinelli therefore fits into a project designed to combine established quality with players who can contribute over a longer horizon.

This shift is also happening against a changing global transfer market. FIFA reported that players who participated in the 2026 World Cup generated more than $3.3 billion in transfer fees during the post-World Cup transfer window, accounting for more than one-third of global men’s transfer spending.

Martinelli’s move sits within that wider market, where international visibility and tournament experience can significantly affect a player’s commercial and sporting value.

What Arsenal lose by selling Martinelli

The headline financial return tells only part of Arsenal’s calculation.

Martinelli brought several qualities that are difficult to reproduce simply by replacing his goal tally. His pace allowed Arsenal to attack behind defensive lines, while his willingness to carry the ball gave the team another way to progress possession.

His departure also reduces the number of experienced wide attackers available to Mikel Arteta.

That issue became more noticeable because Arsenal’s summer transfer business did not completely compensate for the attacking departures. Contemporary reporting noted that Arsenal finished the transfer window without securing some of their major attacking targets, leaving questions about depth even as the club attempted to defend its Premier League crown.

The distinction is important: selling Martinelli for a substantial fee can be financially attractive while simultaneously making the squad harder to manage across a long season.

Martinelli’s final Arsenal season tells a complicated story

Martinelli’s 2025–26 campaign provides a useful explanation for why the transfer is not as straightforward as simply losing a 25-year-old winger at his peak.

He appeared in 53 matches but started 25, according to FBref’s season data. He scored 11 goals and registered seven assists across competitions.

His Champions League production was especially notable: six goals in 14 appearances. By comparison, he scored only once in 30 Premier League appearances.

Those figures suggest a player who remained capable of making a major contribution but whose role had become less straightforward within Arsenal’s attacking hierarchy.

That distinction is crucial. Martinelli was not departing because he had stopped being a useful footballer. Rather, Arsenal and the player reached a point where a large transfer offer and a different sporting opportunity could make sense for both sides.

From Ituano prospect to Brazil international

Martinelli’s journey to Al-Hilal began far from the European spotlight.

He developed in Brazil with Ituano before Arsenal brought him to England in 2019. At Arsenal, he rapidly became one of the club’s most recognisable young attackers and eventually established himself within the Brazil senior setup.

Internationally, he represented Brazil at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, where Brazil won the men’s football gold medal, and subsequently appeared at the 2022 and 2026 FIFA World Cups.

His 2026 World Cup involvement means the move to Saudi Arabia comes immediately after another major international tournament rather than at a point when he has disappeared from Brazil’s plans.

For Martinelli, that creates an obvious challenge and opportunity: maintaining a place in an internationally competitive Brazil squad while playing outside Europe’s traditional elite leagues.

His Olympic experience is part of a remarkable international journey

Martinelli’s Tokyo Olympic experience belongs to the unusual path his career has taken.

The Games were held in 2021 after the COVID-19 pandemic forced the original Tokyo 2020 Olympics to be postponed. Brazil won the men’s football tournament, adding an Olympic gold medal to Martinelli’s growing international résumé.

COVID-era football produced circumstances few players had previously experienced, from postponed competitions to restricted stadiums and altered tournament schedules. The period fundamentally changed how international sport was organised.

For wider context on that extraordinary period, see:

COVID Olympics: How Tokyo 2020 and Beijing 2022 Changed the Games During the Pandemic
https://fatumasvoice.org/367016/

Martinelli leaves Arsenal as a record sale

The financial side of the transfer deserves careful wording.

Reports place the fixed transfer fee at around £60 million, with Arsenal also reported to have negotiated a future sell-on component. The Guardian reported that the deal surpassed Arsenal’s previous record sale, while other reports have placed the value at roughly €70 million.

Because Arsenal’s announcement did not disclose the fee, the safest description is that Martinelli’s transfer is reported to be worth around £60 million rather than treating every reported figure as an officially confirmed number.

If the reported figure is correct, it represents a remarkable financial progression from a teenager signed from Ituano to a record Arsenal sale seven years later.

It also demonstrates why elite clubs increasingly view player development as a strategic asset. A successful academy or recruitment pathway does not only produce sporting value; it can eventually create substantial transfer value.

How Martinelli’s move compares with his Arsenal milestones

The timeline shows how much changed in seven years. Martinelli arrived as a relatively unknown Brazilian teenager and leaves Arsenal as a Premier League champion and established international player.

What Martinelli must prove at Al-Hilal

The move gives Martinelli an opportunity to redefine the next stage of his career.

At Arsenal, his development was measured against the demands of Premier League and Champions League football. At Al-Hilal, he will face a different set of expectations: delivering immediately, competing for domestic honours and helping the club maintain its position as one of Asia’s most ambitious sides.

There is also a footballing adjustment involved. Moving from English football to Saudi Arabia means adapting to a different competitive environment, climate, travel patterns and tactical landscape.

The biggest question is not whether Martinelli has the ability to succeed. His Arsenal record and international experience already establish that. The more interesting question is how much responsibility Al-Hilal will place on him and whether he can become one of the defining players of its next era.

What the transfer says about Arsenal’s next chapter

For Arsenal, Martinelli’s departure is both an ending and a squad-building decision.

The club has spent years constructing an attacking group capable of competing for major honours. Winning the Premier League in 2025–26 validated that project. But defending a title requires depth as well as a strong starting XI.

The departure therefore places greater importance on the players who remain and on the club’s future recruitment. Bukayo Saka, in particular, becomes even more central to Arsenal’s wide attacking threat, while the club must ensure that injuries or suspensions do not expose a lack of alternatives.

That makes Martinelli’s transfer more significant than the departure of one individual player. It changes the balance of Arsenal’s attacking squad immediately after a championship-winning campaign.

Martinelli’s legacy at Arsenal

Martinelli’s seven years at Arsenal can ultimately be measured in more than appearances and goals.

He became part of the generation that helped transform Arsenal from a club rebuilding after years of inconsistency into Premier League champions. He contributed during the FA Cup triumph, the Community Shield victory and the eventual league title, while also growing from an exciting teenager into a Brazil international.

His final Arsenal record — 278 appearances and 62 goals — gives him a substantial place in the club’s modern history.

Now, at 25, he leaves for a four-year Al-Hilal contract rather than waiting until the twilight of his career. That makes the transfer unusual, but it also makes it consequential.

Martinelli’s Arsenal story is finished. The next chapter begins in Saudi Arabia, where he will be expected not simply to be a famous former Premier League player, but a decisive attacker capable of helping Al-Hilal win the titles he says he has come to pursue.