Arsenal’s status as top-four hopefuls rather than title challengers always means they’ll lose players if one of the elite teams in Europe comes along, but they haven’t helped themselves at times in the past.
Robin van Persie and Alexis Sanchez are two prime examples of players who left as their contracts were running down, and it left the club in an impossible position as they simply had to take a modest fee to avoid losing them for nothing.
It appears that lessons have been learned as most of their stars are tied down to long-term deals, and it appears action is being taken early with Gabriel Martinelli as contract talks are being held well before his deal expires:
Understand that contract talks with Gabriel Martinelli have recently opened.
Expected to be on much improved terms.
Would be seen as a reward for fine form given he still has plenty of time to run on current deal and club already has an option to extend by a year.
— Mark Mann-Bryans (@MarkyMBryans) August 19, 2022
The young Brazilian is developing into one of the most promising forwards in world football so it makes sense to tie him down now while recognising his strong form should also motivate him and his teammates if they see Arsenal are looking after their own rather than just throwing money at new players.
With so long remaining on his current deal there’s no need for this to be completed immediately, but there doesn’t appear to be any obstacles in the way at this stage.
His best goalscoring return in a Premier League season is six so there’s still a long way to go before he’s the finished article, but he already has two in two this season and it will be exciting to see how much he can develop this season.
I expect be a long contract 6 year or 5+1