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Alvarez saga conclusion, Martinelli verdict, and more: Everything that could happen at Arsenal this week

The final full week of the transfer window is here.
Atletico de Madrid v Villarreal CF - LaLiga EA Sports 2026/27
Atletico de Madrid v Villarreal CF - LaLiga EA Sports 2026/27 | Angel Martinez/GettyImages

Arsenal's campaign is well underway after beating Coventry City in the Premier League's curtain-raiser on Friday night, and the transfer window is subsequently entering its final stages.

The Gunners strolled to victory in their opening match of the season, with goals from Kai Havertz, Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard seeing off Frank Lampard's men at the Emirates. Despite the convincing nature of this performance, there is still a feeling around the North London club that one more major attacking reinforcement is needed.

While Christos Tzolis has performed excellently since his arrival from Club Brugge, another left-sided attacker, or a new centre-forward, could yet take Mikel Arteta's attack to another level. If anything is going to happen in this regard, it's likely to come to fruition within the next seven days.

With that said, here's a look at everything that might happen at Arsenal over the course of this next week.

Julian Alvarez saga should come to an end

The Julian Alvarez saga has dragged on for several months now, but it's likely to finally be brought to an end this week.

For much of the summer, the noise has been that Alvarez is dreaming of a move to Barcelona. However, negotiations on this front were delayed until after he returned from his post-World Cup holidays, and the speculation has since accelerated.

Atletico Madrid have remained steadfast that they won't sell to Barcelona, and this saga hit boiling point over the weekend when Alvarez was included in Diego Simeone's squad for their game against Villarreal. Booed when his name was announced before the game at the Wanda Metropolitano and whistled throughout his cameo towards the end, the situation looks untenable for the Argentine in Madrid.

It seems clear that his agitation isn't going to earn him a move to the Nou Camp, and that he'll either have to accept an uncomfortable environment at Atleti or agree on a move to Arsenal. If the Gunners are going to convince him to swap the Spanish capital for North London, it'll need to be this week.

The sheer size of the prospective deal, in financial terms, means Arsenal would probably need a few days to mull it over and set the wheels in motion. After this week, there are just two days left before the window closes, so Alvarez will need to get on board within the next seven days.

Gabriel Martinelli sale verdict to be reached

Gabriel Martinelli was again left out of Arsenal's squad on Friday. The signalling seems clear from the Gunners; they want to sell the Brazilian within the next nine days.

That said, there is still a world where Martinelli remains at the Emirates. If Arsenal can't source a new left-winger, then it would arguably be negligent to allow the 25-year-old to leave. While the plan could be to use Eberechi Eze off the left more frequently and replace Martinelli in the aggregate by signing Alvarez, it's not clear that would be the smart move to make and Arteta could certainly veto it.

Al-Hilal are reportedly getting closer to agreeing a deal for Martinelli, with the prospective fee believed to in the region of £55 million, as per Fabrizio Romano. It seems as though the writing is on the wall, although as aforementioned, it's not out of the realm of possibility that the Gunners make a last minute decicion to keep him if they can't secure a new forward.

Either way, we'll discover the outcome very shortly.

More outgoings expected

Martinelli isn't the only player who might leave Arsenal in the next week. Outgoing deals for the likes of Gabriel Jesus, Ethan Nwaneri, Fabio Vieira and Reiss Nelson are all expected to gather pace in the coming days.

Napoli were reportedly in advanced talks to sign Jesus over a week or so ago, but speculation on this deal has gone quiet since it was revealed that the Brazilian wasn't set on a switch to the Diego Armando Maradona Stadium. He'll need to make his mind up very soon.

Meanwhile, a number of clubs are said to be monitoring Nwaneri, whose departure at this point seems inevitable. Whether it be a loan or a permanent move, interst from the Premier League and the Bundesliga is real and is expected to amount to something in the coming days.

As for Vieira and Nelson, their long-awaited exits are finally near. The former is still expected to sign for Hamburg permanently, with the German club waiting until late in the window to make their move to drive the price down, while the latter is close to joining West Ham.

There could still be room for a surprise sale. Martin Zubimendi and Viktor Gyokeres are potential candidates, while rumours over Myles Lewis-Skelly's future continue to circulate.

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