Edu could’ve sealed big Martinelli upgrade with Arsenal swoop for “beautiful” £35m wizard

Arsenal made some significant signings during the recent summer transfer window that have added some strength and depth to Mikel Arteta’s squad.

However, one player that the Gunners were linked with that didn’t end up making a move to the Emirates is PSV Eindhoven winger Cody Gakpo.

Having missed out on signing the winger, we feel that not only has this been a mistake from Arsenal and Edu, but has also seen them miss out on the chance to bring in a potential upgrade on Gabriel Martinelli.

With 208 appearances for PSV under his belt across their senior and youth sides, the 23-year-old has 76 goals and 53 assists to his name.

In terms of being an upgrade on Martinelli, the duo’s previous domestic campaigns showed Gakpo exceed the current Arsenal star on a number of fronts.

In addition to providing double the amount of goal contributions he delivered for PSV than the Brazilian did for Arsenal, Gakpo had more shots at goal (80 vs 50), delivered more crosses (139 vs 48) and gave fewer fouls away than Martinelli (14 vs 26), despite only playing 45 minutes more than the current Gunners figure.

Also, while Martinelli topped Arsenal’s list for dribbles per game (1.6) in the league last season, this didn’t come close to the average that the PSV starlet had for his side (2.9).

Hailed as a “beautiful” player by Josh Bunting on Twitter, it’s easy to see why the Dutchman had a hefty reported price tag of £35m put on him.

However, given how nonchalant Arsenal were when it came to spending money over the summer, this is a deal that the Gunners should have completed.

Moving forward, if Arteta feels the need to add some extra attacking reinforcements to his squad, either in the upcoming January transfer window or the next summer window, launching and securing a move for Gakpo should definitely be something they look to do.