Jesus to Barcelona, Vieira to Hamburg, Nwaneri on loan at Dortmund: Arsenal confirm three exits on deadline day
Barcelona announced the signing of Gabriel Jesus for 10 million euros plus 4 million in add-ons, Hamburg bought Fabio Vieira for around 10 million, and Ethan Nwaneri spends the season at Borussia Dortmund on a straight loan. Nobody came the other way: Alvarez stayed at Atletico, Fofana went elsewhere in the Premier League, Fernandez-Pardo signed for Newcastle.
It took until the final evening for the three files that had been hanging around since Sunday to settle all at once.
What is confirmed
Barcelona announced the signing of Gabriel Jesus, and Arsenal’s statement followed shortly after. The Brazilian has signed until June 2029. Arseblog put the deal at 10 million euros plus 4 million in add-ons, while Yahoo Sports report a total package around 14 million with a 20 per cent sell-on kept by the Gunners. Four years on from the 45 million pounds paid to Manchester City, the loss on the books is real, but the club also clears one of its biggest salaries, on a player whose last three seasons were broken up by his knee.
Fabio Vieira stays at Hamburg. He spent last season there on loan, returned 7 goals and 6 assists in 31 games as the club came back up, and he never considered anywhere else. Arseblog put the fee at around 10 million euros, while Florian Plettenberg reports 9 million fixed and a contract running to 2030, with a small sell-on percentage for Arsenal. Andrea Berta eventually accepted a figure below the 20 million buy option that HSV could not exercise.
The third exit is the one that hurts most. Ethan Nwaneri spends the season at Borussia Dortmund on a straight loan, with no purchase option at all, and the German club cover his full wages. He arrives to replace Giannis Konstantelias, who tore the cruciate ligament in his right knee. It is his second loan in a row after six months at Marseille in 2025/26, and Arsenal keep him under contract until 2030: the club turned down a 35 million euro offer this summer from Dortmund themselves, then a loan with a 40 million option from AC Milan. At 19, with 51 senior appearances and 10 goals, he leaves to find the minutes the London midfield had stopped giving him since Bruno Guimaraes arrived.
What is not confirmed
Gabriel Martinelli still has no statement. Fabrizio Romano maintains the deal is done, the Brazilian has been cleared to travel for the final formalities, and the Saudi market stays open longer than the Premier League one, which means Al-Hilal’s announcement can land after the English deadline. Until it does, the file stays listed as a deal agreed between clubs on the site rather than official. The figures also keep moving between sources, more than 65 million euros for some, around 55.7 million pounds including add-ons at Sky Sports.
Tommy Setford is the last file still alive. Talks with Las Palmas bogged down, and League One side Stevenage now lead the race for a loan for the 20-year-old goalkeeper. Nothing is signed.
The context
No signing came to make up for any of it, and not for want of trying.
Julian Alvarez trained normally with Atletico on Tuesday morning, with no sign of a deadline exit. Arsenal were the only club putting up a fee Madrid would accept, but the Argentine was aiming for Barcelona and never opened the door to England. No bid was ever lodged. Malick Fofana, the late option, went to the Premier League without us: Sunderland and then Crystal Palace fought over him all day, each with their own agreement with Lyon, while Arsenal refused to match the 40 million euro package the French club were asking. Matias Fernandez-Pardo signed for Newcastle, for a fee Get French Football News puts at around 65 million.
Arteta warned on Monday that he was not expecting a signing on deadline day, and he was right.
The GG take
On paper the summer is still huge. We brought in Bruno Guimaraes and Ezri Konsa, we had taken Piero Hincapie and Christos Tzolis before them, and Illan Meslier arrived on a free in goal. The reigning champions have started with six points from two league games and three clean sheets in three competitive matches. None of that disappears because the last day was ugly.
But I look at the left wing and I do not like what I see. Martinelli is going, Jesus too, Nwaneri leaves to build himself elsewhere, and the one replacement we actually chased last night, we refused to pay for. Trossard had already left in July. Saka, Eze, Madueke, Tzolis and Gyokeres are still there up front, which is not nothing, except that one Saka injury in October and the depth becomes a real problem.
The one that nags at me is Nwaneri. Turning down 35 million rather than sell him, then sending him to the Bundesliga with no purchase option, is a bet you can defend: he is protected, he will play, and we get him back in a year. It is still the second season in a row that a Hale End kid learns his trade a long way from here.
Sources and reliability
The three confirmations rest on the clubs’ own statements, reported and detailed by Arseblog News for Gabriel Jesus, Arseblog News for Fabio Vieira, and Get German Football News plus Bundesliga.com for Ethan Nwaneri. The Jesus figures come from Yahoo Sports and Barca Blaugranes.
On the files that went nowhere, Sky Sports and ESPN document the Sunderland and Crystal Palace tug-of-war over Fofana and Arsenal’s refusal to match the price, Daily Cannon covers Alvarez staying in Madrid, and Get French Football News the Fernandez-Pardo announcement at Newcastle.
The Martinelli file stays listed as a deal agreed between clubs, at VERY RELIABLE, for as long as Al-Hilal have published nothing. Every entry, with its sources and reliability rating, lives on the transfers page.