Arsenal's Gabriel Martinelli 'among five Barcelona summer transfer targets'
The 22-year-old was playing in the fourth tier of Brazilian football with Ituano before being unearthed by Arsenal, who paid just £6m to bring him to the Emirates Stadium in 2019.
Since touching down in the English capital and earning his stars under Unai Emery, Martinelli has proven to be a hidden gem, already contributing 40 goals and 22 assists from 158 matches for the Gunners.
Martinelli found the back of the net 15 times in the 2022-23 Premier League season — the joint-most of any Arsenal player alongside Martin Odegaard — and he was called up to Brazil's 2022 World Cup squad on account of his stellar domestic displays.
The winger has found the going a bit tougher this time around, only netting five Premier League goals so far in 2023-24, but three of those efforts have come in four games since the turn of the year.
As Mikel Arteta and Edu began their mission to agree new contracts with Arsenal's young core, Martinelli was one of the first to agree to fresh terms, penning an extension until 2027 with the option of a further year last February.
Nevertheless, according to Mundo Deportivo — via AS — Barcelona will try to prise Martinelli away from the Emirates this summer as the Spanish champions prepare for a potential attacking reshuffle.
La Blaugrana — who will also wave goodbye to head coach Xavi at the end of the season — have apparently put Raphinha up for sale given their need to raise funds, while it remains to be seen if Atletico Madrid loanee Joao Felix will be signed permanently.
President Joan Laporta has insisted that the club are keen to keep Felix on the books, but it has been
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