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Arsenal table proposal to sign 23-year-old international winger – reports

By on January 21, 2019

According to reports in Portugal via the Daily Star, Arsenal have tabled an ‘important proposal’ to sign Atletico Madrid winger Gelson Martins as Unai Emery looks to strengthen his attack this month.

The boss admitted last week that he was working with the club to try and bring in reinforcements and a new wide attacker was on the agenda after losing Danny Welbeck for the rest of the season to a broken ankle.

Martins was linked with a move to the Emirates back in the summer when he cancelled his contract at Sporting Lisbon after the players were attacked by their own fans at the training ground but he decided to join Atletico Madrid instead.

However, he’s struggled to force his way in to Diego Simeone’s team as he’s started just 1 league game so far this season and it appears Arsenal are now ready to offer him the chance to resurrect his career in the Premier League.

The Daily Star are citing a report from O Jogo that claims Arsenal have tabled an ‘important proposal’ to sign Martins but the Portuguese outlet says we’ll face competition from Monaco – who’re managed by Arsenal legend Thierry Henry.

It’s not made clear in the report what kind of proposal we’ve supposedly made for Martins but given Emery himself has said we can only make loan signings this month, I think it’s clear Arsenal must have offered to take the winger on a short-term deal.

Atletico are expected to sign Alvaro Morata from Chelsea this week so the La Liga club could be open to letting Martins leave and you’d like to think the 23-year-old is frustrated with his lack of football in Spain.

The Portuguese international is a right winger but he’s comfortable playing anywhere in attack so he’d be a useful addition to the squad. He looked a huge talent at Sporting and while his move to Madrid hasn’t worked out, he could still prove to be a shrewd piece of business if Arsenal can get a deal agreed.

However, I’m a little disappointed that the club are [reportedly] looking at a young winger like Martins when we allowed Reiss Nelson to leave on loan. It’s too late now as we can’t recall him from Hoffenheim but we should have kept Nelson and given him a chance this season.

We’ve also got Buyako Saka tearing it up with the U23’s so surely it’s worth given him a go with the first team rather than bringing in a player like Martins?