It's done. Gabriel Martinelli has joined Al-Hilal for £60m, and Arsenal have never sold anyone for more. The previous record was the £35m Liverpool paid for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in 2017, which tells you how far off the pace the club's selling has been for a decade.
Monday's post had this agreed at €70m on a four-year deal. Now it's signed, with a sell-on clause in there too.
Seven years, arriving from Ituano in the Brazilian fourth tier, leaving as a Premier League champion. You can argue about how the last two seasons went and whether he was ever going to be the wide forward this side needed. You can't argue with the profit.
What you can argue with is the shape of the squad he leaves behind. Martinelli out, Gabriel Jesus out, and a summer whose attacking business begins and ends with Christos Tzolis at £34m. Two goalscorers gone and none in.
And the Álvarez business apparently isn't finished. A piece on The Athletic makes the case that the saga has plenty left in it, with Barcelona as the other party and no shortage of bad blood at Atlético. That's a January story now, and January strikers cost more than September ones. I'd rather not find out.
Arsenal Women have signed Élisa De Almeida from Paris Saint-Germain, a three-year deal for a shade over half a million pounds. She takes the number 5.
That's a centre-back for the price of nothing, and the centre-back group needed a body. The 28-year-old has been at PSG since 2021. At that fee it's hard to see the downside.
Chelsea at the Emirates on Sunday, the first London derby of the season. Bruno Guimarães and Ezri Konsa are both in line for Premier League debuts, which would give Arteta options he hasn't had yet. The midfield is the best part of this squad by a distance. He'll need it to be.
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