Arsenal: Gelson Martins needs somewhere to settle

Arsenal could go for some wide attackers and Gelson Martin is certainly one of those. The only thing he needs is a place to settle, doesn’t he?

Depending on your prerogative, you may be one of those people who thinks that the No. 1 thing that Arsenal needs this summer is some better options out wide. Their wingbacks have been a massive blessing, but the fact remains that we don’t have any true wingers.

Even Denis Suarez is more of a Henrikh Mkhitarya-style winger, that doesn’t utilize speed or width so much as he is a displaced creative midfielder who cuts in and uses fancy footwork rather than straight speed and crossing.

Gelson Martins is a winger, and he’s a winger that’s been linked to the Gunners for years. It looked like they were getting a massive break when he left Sporting CP after dubious circumstances in which his contract was canceled due to internal issues. Instead, he went to Atletico Madrid.

He didn’t score a single goal or land a single assist in Spain, and was sent to Monaco on loan this January, where he has hit the ground running, scoring three goals and adding an assist, showcasing more of the talent that we saw on display in Portugal.

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It has been a tumultuous time since he left Sporting CP, who are now fighting to reinstate his £80m+ release clause, which would obviously render a potential move impossible for the Gunners, who should be using that money in more intelligent ways.

But Atletico got to Martins without hitting that release clause, given the abrupt cancellation of Martins’ contract. They only ended up paying about a third of that release clause, which is a reasonable price to pay for someone like Martins, and a reasonable price that the Gunners could afford.

The question is where his price would fall, since it isn’t clear where the resolution will land. But one thing is for sure, and that’s that Martins will not benefit from constant moves from Portugal, to Spain, to France, all in the span of a year.

The Gunners can give him a permanent home, somewhere to settle in and ply his trade at the highest level. And sometimes that’s the greatest thing you can give a player.

There are other options out there, but Martins fits the exact billing of what we’re looking for, and the price could be absolutely right if everything goes accordingly.