Gabriel Martinelli must repeat the agent role carried out by Bukayo Saka to help the Gunners in the summer transfer window. Arsenal are hot on the tail for Gabriel Jesus, and Martinelli could play a big role in helping Arsenal to secure his signature.
Arsenal’s young Brazilian has been called up to the next set of international fixtures for his country in June. This means he will be in a camp alongside Manchester City’s Jesus, who has also been called up to the Brazil national team.
Saka used being called for duty with England to persuade Aaron Ramsdale to join the club ahead of this season. Martinelli could repeat this trick to persuade Jesus to join the Gunners.
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Ramsdale joined Arsenal for a £30m fee in August, and In an interview with football magazine FourFourTwo, the goalkeeper was asked how Mikel Arteta sold the club to him ahead of his transfer last year.
"It wasn’t him, to be honest – it was Bukayo," he replied. "I heard rumours that Arsenal were interested in me when I was at the camp before the Euros, and Bukayo had mentioned that he and the boss had been talking about me."
Saka’s crucial role in persuading Ramsdale to join the club should be repeated by Martinelli to persuade Jesus to make the move to north London. Especially considering the desperate need for Arsenal to sign a striker.
According to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, the Gunners are preparing the opening bid for Jesus. Manchester City want around £50m to sell the forward, even if his current deal won’t be extended.
The Gunners are in desperate need of a striker at the end of the season. And it seems that Edu and Mikel Arteta have identified Jesus as the ideal player to take the club forward.
Arteta and the Brazilian international have worked together before during the Spaniard’s three-year tenure at Manchester City as one of Pep Guardiola’s coaching staff. This adds another incentive to secure his signature and improve the forward line ahead of next season. But there are reportedly six other clubs chasing his signature meaning the help of Martinelli is needed to persuade Jesus to make the switch to north London.
During Jesus’ time with Arteta, the Brazilian played 6931 minutes and he managed to score 55 goals. This meant that his goals per 90 minutes reached an average of 0.71. This record is better than when Arteta left City because, without the Spaniard, Jesus has played 6850 minutes and scored 39 goals which means he reached an average of 0.51 goals per game.
The signing of Jesus would certainly enhance Edu’s reputation in his ability to acquire a top striker for Arsenal. The Manchester City forward has been pivotal for Pep Guardiola’s successes in recent years, and he could certainly play the same role for Mikel Arteta at Arsenal, and Martinelli could play a major part in ensuring that this happens.
