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Bid made: Arsenal table £26m offer to sign winger, player desperate for move

By on June 6, 2018

According to reports in Portugal via the Metro, Arsenal have tabled a £26m bid to sign Gelson Martins and the winger is desperate to secure a move away from Sporting Lisbon this summer.

Martins has emerged as a target for Unai Emery in recent weeks as our new head coach looks to add some genuine width to the squad he inherited from Arsene Wenger.

TeamTalk reported last week that Emery has identified the 23-year-old as the man he wants to play alongside Mesut Ozil, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in attack next season.

That report said head of recruitment Sven Mislintat had opened negotiations with Sporting after watching Martins provide 13 goals and 13 assists in all competitions last season.

It seems we’ve now formalised our interest in the Portuguese international as the Metro are citing a report from A Bola that claims Arsenal have opened the bidding with a £26m offer.

The Portuguese publication says Sporting have already rejected it and are demanding closer to £39m but that hasn’t gone down well with Martins as the winger is desperate to secure a move away from the club.

Several players are looking to leave Sporting following a turbulent campaign that saw 19 players threatened with suspension for poor performance while players were attacked at the training ground by fans after they missed out on Champions League qualification.

It remains to be seen whether Martins will be able to persuade Sporting to lower their demands and force a move but Arsenal may yet face stiff competition for his signature as the Metro says Liverpool and Man Utd are also after the youngster.

Martins is predominantly a right-winger so he’d add some much needed width to the squad as I think we’ve lacked wide-men since selling Theo Walcott and Alexis Sanchez in January.

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However, we’ll have to see how negotiations progress and whether Arsenal will go back in with an improved offer before we get too excited about seeing Martins in an Arsenal shirt.