According to the Mirror, Arsenal are set to go head to head with their former club legend Thierry Henry for the signature of Atletico Madrid’s Gelson Martins, with the Frenchman also interested in securing the services of the Portuguese speedster to save his club Monaco from relegation.
However, Chelsea can play a pivotal role in this move. Gonzalo Higuain’s arrival at Stamford Bridge would allow Alvaro Morata to complete a loan move to Wanda Metropolitano, which in turn would allow the La Liga outfit to offload Martins on a temporary basis to make room for Morata. (h/t Mirror)
The same report claims that Arsenal are only in the transfer market for loan signings due to some financial constraints.
The Gunners rekindled their hopes of a top-four finish, beating London rivals Chelsea 2-0 to close the gap on the final Champions League qualification spot to just three points.
The Gunners might be interested to do some business in January to add depth to their squad given that Emery has struggled to cope with the long list of injuries this season. Arsenal have done reasonably well in their first season under the Spaniard but injuries have played a major role, forcing the manager to often rely on youngsters.
While they have often run of options at the back, right-wing has been another area of concern for the manager. Henrikh Mkhitaryan blew hot and cold on the right of Emery’s 4-2-3-1 before being sidelined with an injury while Mesut Ozil, who started a few games on the right earlier in the season, has found himself missing from the squad in recent weeks due to mysterious reasons.
Ainsley Maitland-Niles is still too young and lacks the experience and the composure to consistently deliver the goods, further epitomising the need to dip into the transfer window to solve the right-wing conundrum in January.
To put things into perspective, Gelson Martins would be a welcome addition to Arsenal’s squad as the Portuguese speed machine has all the attributes to perfectly fit into Emery’s system.
Martins joined Atletico Madrid in the summer after a successful spell with his boyhood club Sporting Lisbon where he accumulated 27 goals and 30 assists from 140 appearances across all competitions but he has only started once in the La Liga this season.
The 23-year-old Portuguese international is known for his insane pace and has a boxful of trickery up his sleeves to ghost the defenders. Operating as a conventional right-footed winger down the right, Martins has the ability to dribble at pace and he can certainly be a handful for the opposition with his clever changes or direction.
The 23-year-old has plenty of stamina, tenacity and drive, seldom running out of steam and playing the whole ninety minutes with the same vigour.
Furthermore, Martin’s presence not will only facilitate better build-up play down the right with Hector Bellerin but will also make Arsenal more potent on the counter-attack with his pace.
As things stand, Arsenal are still in with a good chance of securing a top-four finish and they should make sure that they do not face a burnout due to injuries at the crunch end of the campaign. And signing the Portuguese international will reliably be a massive boost to their chances of playing Champions League football next season.