Man Utd’s £6m transfer blunder highlighted again as Arsenal star comments on Old Trafford trial

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Arsenal ace Gabriel Martinelli has spoken about his previous trial with Manchester United.

United have got it wrong in the transfer market on many, many occasions in recent years.

Huge fees have been paid out for players and few have really proven to be value for money.

We have also seen United miss out on some top talents with Moises Caicedo springing to mind.

United want to make sure that there aren’t repeats of the Caicedo situation moving forward, but there is another example of United missing out on a South American star…

Manchester United missed out on Gabriel Martinelli

United fans are probably looking at Arsenal’s rise under Mikel Arteta and feeling a little envious.

What will make that feeling even worse is that United had Arsenal forward Gabriel Martinelli in the building at one point.

Martinelli was in the Brazilian lower leagues with Ituano when United and Barcelona both took him on trial.

Neither side finalised a deal and that allowed Arsenal to swoop in, paying just £6million to lure Martinelli to North London.

That deal has proven to be an unbelievable bargain with Martinelli going on to smash 41 goals in 162 games for Arsenal.

United could have bought Martinelli around 14 times over for the fee paid for Antony, which will seriously sting inside Old Trafford.

Martinelli on United

Martinelli has now spoken about United whilst being interviewed by TNT Sports in his native Brazil.

As translated by Sport Witness, Martinelli admitted that going on trial with United and Barcelona was simply ‘incredible’.

Martinelli added that he loved meeting some players he was used to watching on TV, such as Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Paul Pogba.

“It was an incredible experience. You’re a boy, always watching these players on TV, and getting to know them personally is something that makes you happy. You’re proud to be there, to have the opportunity to meet them. It was really cool,” said Martinelli.

“I always took pictures. I still have pictures with Ibra, Pogba, Evra, Giggs. I met these players not at the same time, because Giggs was before,” he added.

Martinelli was clearly delighted to be at United even on trial, so to see him become a real star – with a Premier League rival no less – really hurts.

It just wasn’t to be for Martinelli and United, but we can only hope to see fewer of these transfer misses in the years to come.