08/26/2026
🔴⚪ MARTINELLI EXIT: WE HAVE SEEN THIS BEFORE! AUBA AND OZIL!
As Football fans, we understand that football is a ruthless business. Players come and players leave.
But why does the way some of our biggest players leave keep frustrating us?
Look at Mesut Özil.
One of the most gifted players ever to wear the Arsenal shirt. Yet his final chapter became a bitter one. He was frozen out of the team before eventually leaving for Fenerbahçe.
Then came Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.
Our captain. Our goals scoring machine. The man who delivered the FA Cup.
His Arsenal story ended with the captaincy taken away and his contract terminated by mutual consent. It was a painful way for such an important player to leave.
And now Gabriel Martinelli.
A player who gave Arsenal years of energy, goals and commitment is suddenly heading towards the exit.
Martinelli was left out of Arsenal's Community Shield and Premier League squads while his future was being decided by Arsenal, yet he is ready to fight for his place at Arsenal rather than exit. Arsenal and Al-Hilal have agreed a deal in principle worth around £49m plus £7m in add-ons.
Even Ian Wright, an Arsenal legend, has expressed his discomfort with how Martinelli's situation has been handled.
And that's the point.
This isn't about saying Özil, Aubameyang or Martinelli were perfect or Arteta is the problem.
It's about asking:
Can Arsenal be ruthless without making players and supporters feel discarded?
When Özil left, Arsenal fans were deeply divided.
When Aubameyang left, many fans were heartbroken.
And now Martinelli's potential exit is creating that same uncomfortable feeling again.
Selling a player is football.
How you treat the player on his way out is something else.
What do you think, Gooners? 👇
