The wrong Trossard vs. Martinelli call could wreck Arsenal's season

Amid all the excitement of our new, frontline interests, Arsenal might need to sell some of their own crop too and two names in particular are being linked with summer exits – those of Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli.      

Selling either man would be a hard decision. In Trossard, the Gunners have someone who comes up clutch at key moments – FC Porto and Bayern Munich in 2023/24 spring to mind – while Martinelli is a driven, hardworking player who could yet realise his ‘talent of the century’ potential.

However, the club are linked with lots of stars (e.g. Eberechi Eze, Rodrygo, Noni Madueke) and simply cannot hoard them all (though Chelsea would probably find a way), meaning one of our present left-wing options may well have to leave.

They are each at different points in their careers and boast greatly contrasting skillsets, so to get this call wrong – ‘wrong’ perhaps meaning how they will dovetail with new additions – may lead to major consequences for the 2025/26 campaign.

Sell Trossard or Martinelli? The wrong call could hurt the Arsenal campaign greatly in 2025/26

Arguments for the sale of Trossard stack up quite fast: he is 30 years old, has just one year left on his current deal and was only ever meant to be a cheap, stop-gap solution after the pursuit of Mykhailo Mudryk fell through in January 2023.

Furthermore, he is very much a ‘Steady Eddie’ type rather than a true world-beater and his ‘modest’ numbers (40 G/A in 121 Brighton games; 51 G/A in 124 Arsenal games) reflect that; he is a very good player but does not move the needle for a title-chasing attack.

But even that steadiness and ‘all-round’ nature could win Trossard favour over Martinelli. The Brazil forward, while talented, has failed to hit the heights of 2022/23 in each of the past two seasons and it owes much to his own shortcomings.

Too often he runs head down, letting defenders guide him into blind alleys, and he has become quite predictable in one-on-one situations. That unimaginative streak caused his goal-scoring form to drop off sharply in 2023/24 and 2024/25 (eight and six league goals in each campaign), something which should give our ‘marginal gains’ mindset some food for thought.

At 24 years old and with two years left on his contract, Arsenal might choose to cash in on a valuable asset when the iron is hot and use those funds to enable their ambitious summer plans, with Eze, a winger and a striker all still tipped to arrive at Emirates Stadium in the next few weeks.

Yet Martinelli might be saved by the high regard in which he is held by Mikel Arteta (the boss stated once that “he loves Gabi so much”) and there is a real prospect of him improving when surrounded by that new, ‘better’ supporting cast next term.

Both players have their faults and are ripe for exits, but it is likely only one – if either – will leave in this transfer window. After years of piecemeal offensive buys and the promise of huge investment now, a wrong call on who to keep/sell could make a great difference to our title dream – the club must get it right.

My money is on a Trossard sale.