Arsenal: Gelson Martins emblematic of summer style

Arsenal have clearly got a style to their summer transfer window work: address a need at a good price. Signing Sporting Lisbon winger Gelson Martins would be emblematic of that approach.

Entering the summer, two things seemed clear for Arsenal: 1) They had a lot of work to do to refreshen a stagnating squad that had a lot of holes, especially in defensive areas; 2) There was not a whole lot of resources to get that work done.

Catch the latest episode of the Pain in the Arsenal podcast right here

That is quite the challenge. However, it seems as though Ivan Gazidis, Sven Mislintat, Raul Sanllehi and Unai Emery have taken to it quite wonderfully. The targets may not be the perfect players, but they do fill holes for good prices, and that is difficult to criticise.

More from Pain in the Arsenal

• 3 standout players from 1-0 victory over Everton
• 3 positives & negatives from Goodison Park victory
• Arsenal vs PSV preview: Prediction, team news & lineups
• 3 talking points from Arsenal’s victory at Goodison Park
• Mikel Arteta provides Gabriel Martinelli injury update after Everton win

Sokratis Papastathopoulos is a good, experienced defender for £16 million. Lucas Torreira is a steal at £26 million and could be the future anchoring midfielder for the next decade. Bernd Leno is a talented, if somewhat flawed, goalkeeper who is only 26 and will be approximately £10 million cheaper than Jordan Pickford was last year. Stephan Lichsteiner is experienced, high-character depth for free. These are economical, hole-filling acquisitions. And, ostensibly, the Arsenal brain trust is now searching for another.

Sporting Lisbon are a club in great trouble. After their fans attacked the players during a training session after the team slipped out of the qualification places for next season’s Champions League prior to the Taca de Portugal final, a final that they proceeded to lose, some players have motioned for their contracts to be terminated on grounds of ‘just cause’ because they feel physically and mentally unsafe at their workplace. One of those players in spritely winger Gelson Martins.

Arsenal have been named amid a myriad of interested teams in Martins’ services, reportedly enamoured by both his potential and his price. The 23-year-old totalled eight goals and eight assists in 2688 Liga Nos minutes last season, displaying great speed, directness, fleetness of foot and a surprisingly consistent and accurate end product.

He is a natural winger, playing the position in a more traditional manner, staying wide, stretching the pitch horizontally and vertically, rather than continually drifting inside like the modern-day winger often does, dribbling at defenders, whipping crosses into the box, and scoring goals by driving in behind the opposing defence.

That is precisely the type of player that Arsenal need. With the departures of Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Theo Walcott, they have lacked that pacy, direct wide option, with Arsene Wenger primarily using Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Mesut Ozil and Henrikh Mkhitaryan in the wide positions during the latter half of last season, none of which are natural wingers. And now they have the chance to fulfil that need for nothing but a signing-on fee, wages, and enough of a sweetener to appease the agent.

Next: Arsenal: 3 players impacted by Lucas Torreira signing

That is emblematic of the summer style: Recognise a need, find a suitable target to fill that need, secure that target on the cheap. Sokratis had one year remaining on his contract. Lichtsteiner was free. Torreira had a release clause. And now Martins is moving to terminate his contract. This is the approach Arsenal have taken this summer, and it might just be working.