Arsenal winger on radar of Bayern Munich | Shoot

With the World Cup just days away, anticipation is high ahead of the start of the tournament in North America.

After a busy club season that culminated in Paris Saint-Germain beating Arsenal to lift the Champions League for the second time in a row, attention is now turning to the showpiece in the United States, Canada and Mexico, which starts on Thursday when the latter host South Africa.

Premier League sides will also be working hard in the transfer market, though, with all 20 sides likely to be busy in the coming weeks and months.

Champions Arsenal are likely to want to bolster their squad, but could also allow certain players to move on.

With that in mind, it has emerged that one of the Gunners’ stars is on the radar of a huge European side.

According to CFBayernInsider, Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich have a long-standing interest in Arsenal winger Gabriel Martinelli.

The journalist claims that the German side have been interested in the Brazilian since Thomas Tuchel was in charge in Bavaria, and the winger remains on their radar.

Despite this, it is claimed that Bayern have been reluctant to make a move to sign the player as they may not be able to offer him the regular playing time he craves.

Martinelli, 24, joined the Gunners from Brazilian side Ituano back in 2019 and has since broken into the first team.

He has now scored 62 goals and provided 36 assists in 278 games for the north London club across all competitions, but he has fallen out of favour slightly over the past 12 months.

Last term the Brazil international started just 11 of Arsenal’s 38 Premier League games, and the report suggests that he is understandably keen to play more regularly.

Despite this, Bayern are said to be keen to sign a winger that they can develop, rather than a proven first team starter.

While a fee of around £38 million could be enough to persuade Arsenal to sell Martinelli, the report suggests that the player himself may not be tempted by the proposition.