GABRIEL MARTINELLI has agreed a new long-term Arsenal contract which will more than double his current salary.
The 21-year-old Brazil international is set to sign a £180,000-a-week deal to 2027 with the option of an extra 12 months.
And Mikel Arteta is delighted to secure the services of the exciting young winger after months of negotiations.
Martinelli, who currently earns around £70,000-a-week, will become one of the club’s highest paid players after pledging his future to the Gunners for the foreseeable future.
Signed from Brazilian minnows Ituano for just £6million in 2019, he has emerged as one of the key figures in Arsenal’s title challenge and has started all of their Premier League games this season.
Now the Prem leaders are stepping up their efforts to secure lucrative new deals for Bukayo Saka and William Saliba.
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Both players are currently under contract to 2024, although Arsenal have an option to extend both by 12 months.
Arteta is relaxed about the situation and believes it is only a matter of time before agreement is reached to tie both players down.
But he wants to reward them with significant pay rises to reflect their importance to the team.
Martinelli’s new deal always looked likely too.
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But Barcelona and Chelsea are previously thought to have shown interest.
And Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp is also a big fan of Martinelli.
Klopp hailed him as “a talent of the century” after a 2019 EFL Cup tie, which ended 5-5 with Martinelli grabbing a brace.
Liverpool went on to win the game 5-4 on penalties.
But Klopp said in the aftermath of the then 18-year-old: “Martinelli’s pretty much the same age [as Liverpool defender Sepp Van De Berg] but he’s a talent of the century, he’s an incredible striker, so it’s really difficult.
“It was not in this game only. I watch a lot of football, so I saw the Europa League games of Arsenal.
“He’s 18 years old, right? So our scouting department is all over the world and stuff like this, but I think Edu gets all the credit for that signing – he came from… wherever.
“He’s really unbelievable. So young, looks so mature already, is a proper threat.
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“Yeah, he looks like a really decent player.
“I didn’t want to put any backpack [pressure] on his back with this thing [his earlier remarks] but I just really like good football players and obviously he’s a very good one.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
