Arsenal: Why Gelson Martins isn’t the right investment

In recent days, Gelson Martins of Sporting Lisbon in Portugal has been linked with a move to Arsenal. But he does not seem like a good investment.

Gelson Martins, born Gelson Dany Batalha Martins, has been linked with plenty of Premier League sides like Liverpool and Manchester City, but now they’ve linked him with Arsenal. With the Gunners many links to top-tier players and the incoming Henrikh Mkhitaryan, why are/were they being linked to Martins in the first place?

Gelson Martins has played over 100 times for Sporting since joining from Futbol Benfica in 2010. He is a goalscoring wide man with killer skills and an eye for a pass.

With all that in mind, Martins seems more like a glorified Gervinho, with all that promise and talent. Gervinho was bought by Arsenal in 2011 after good displays with Lille. He only spent two seasons with them. Gervinho only played 63 times for Arsenal, scoring 11 goals.

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Martins seems like the real deal, but with a reported fee of £52 million, any club would be wary to look into him. This club has deep pockets but to fork out that kind of money for a player who has only been at the top level for three seasons is dicey.

I would rather see them fork out that kind of money for someone like Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, which is looks like they may be doing. Aubameyang has played with Borussia Dortmund since 2013 and has been consistent and deadly in front of goal. Aubameyang would be sound transfer.

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Martins can run the flanks and be a threat out wide but he seems to be more of a long-term investment. Something the Gunners don’t need right now. They need a player who can start and be a constant threat up front, and maybe push Alexandre Lacazette who has had little competition this season.

Lacazette has only just ended his eight match goalless streak with his sublime finish to a beautiful Mesut Ozil pass against Crystal Palace. It’s his Lyon consistency that we are still searching for at Arsenal.

The Gunners need to be smart with all the money they’ve acquired through player sales. Signing a tried and trusted player seems like the way to go. Gelson Martins needs more time to develop, especially in a league like the Premier League.

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Martins is not the physical kind of player who would get stuck in and hold up the ball, rather he’s the kind of player that would burn you for pace. The Gunners already have that in Hector Bellerin and Reiss Nelson. They need to focus on their true needs, not on long-term investments that cost far too much.