Gabriel Martinelli is close to signing a new long-term contract with Arsenal, and as a result, the Brazilian international is set to become one of the club’s highest earners.
According to the Daily Mail, the winger will pen a new deal until 2027 that will see Martinelli earn £200,000-a-week, with this contract set to keep the 21-year-old in north London for the coming years and locking down one of Arsenal’s best prospects for the future.
With Arsenal dramatically reducing their wage bill under Mikel Arteta, the Gunners are now reintroducing high wages back onto the payroll as the Basque manager looks to reward those with the potential to become superstars with salaries that will convince them to stay.
Indeed, Arsenal have offered some major pay packets to some big players over the years, and here are the five highest-paid stars to have played for the Gunners as Martinelli looks to sign a new contract with the north London club.
Mesut Ozil – £350,000-a-week
There’s really only place to start with a list like this, with Mesut Ozil Arsenal’s joint-highest paid player ever as the German playmaker pocketed £350,000-a-week after signing a new long-term contract in February 2018.
Regarded as a great move at the time, the move to sign Ozil to a new contract at such a price quickly devolved into one of the worst decisions Arsenal have made in recent years, with the midfielder hardly hitting his peak since the deal and eventually leaving the club for Turkey in 2021, forging the rest of his deal.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang – £350,000-a-week
Just like with Ozil, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was handed a mammoth £350,000-a-week deal after the striker fired Arsenal to the FA Cup in 2020 and looked set to become one of Arsenal’s best-ever strikers in the Premier League era.
However, in a similar tale to his former Germany counterpart, the decision to give Aubameyang such a big contract soon unravelled to also being a mistake, with the striker’s off-the-field actions leading to the Gabon international being stripped of the captain’s armband and then sold to FC Barcelona in January of this year.
Gabriel Jesus – £265,000-a-week
It might come as a surprise to many, but summer signing Gabriel Jesus currently sits as Arsenal’s current top earner as well as the third best-ever paid player in the club’s history, with the Brazilian international signing a contract worth a staggering £265,000-a-week this summer.
Early signs have suggested that the deal has been worth it, though, with Jesus proving to be the perfect striker for Arsenal heading into the 2022 FIFA World Cup break, and the Gunners will be sure to miss the Brazilian in the coming months as the forward is set for a lengthy spell out on the injury table.
Willian – £220,000-a-week
If you were to ask an Arsenal fan what the single worst transfer the club has made in recent years has been, the majority of supporters would say Willian in the summer of 2020, with the former Chelsea superstar joining on a free transfer and signing a three-year contract worth £220,000-a-week.
As we know, Willian lasted just one year at Arsenal as the winger mutually agreed to leave the club to return to Brazil with Corinthians, with the transfer seemingly putting a stop to Arteta and Edu Gaspar’s previous transfer philosophy of going off certain agent recommendations.
Thomas Partey – £200,000-a-week
With Martinelli set to sign a new Arsenal contract very soon, the Brazilian winger is on course to become the joint-second highest-paid player in the current squad, earning the same amount as Thomas Partey, who signed a £200,000-a-week deal back in 2020.
A deadline day signing from Atletico Madrid, the Ghana international has been one of Arsenal’s most important players this year, and the Gunners’ Premier League title charge could solely rely on if the midfielder remains fit until the end of the season.
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