CL Giants Have 'Interest' in Top Premier League Pair

IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters

CL Giants Have 'Interest' in Top Premier League Pair

Originally posted on Essential Football | By J Johnson | Last updated Aug 13, 2026 5:34 PM ET

Premier League clubs – especially those within the venerated ‘big six‘ are often seen as the biggest fish in the footballing pond. Generally, in the transfer window, they’re the ones hoovering up the world’s best players.

In this case, however, something different is happening. Galatasaray have become one of Europe’s biggest hitters from a financial perspective in recent years, snapping up some top talents as they look to make a dent in the Champions League.

Now, they have two top Premier League stars in their sights. Arsenal star Gabriel Martinelli and Liverpool ace Alexis Mac Allister could both be making the jump to Turkiye in the coming weeks.

According to a report from The Guardian, both of these superstars are on Galatasaray’s transfer agenda. The Turkish giants are looking to add established Premier League players to their books, with these two having been identified as potential targets.

In particular, they could spend up to £38 million to pry Martinelli away from the Emirates Stadium. Despite this, they aren’t the only interested party.

TransferFeed reports that a number of other top clubs are in the hunt for the Brazilian international, including Manchester United, Newcastle United, Atletico Madrid, Bayern Munich and Juventus. As such, there are plenty of suitors who will need fending off if Galatasaray action a transfer move.

Mac Allister isn’t without his own alternative admirers, either. In particular, Manchester City have been linked with a move for the 27-year-old, according to TalkSPORT.

Galatasaray’s ambitions are clearly high, but we wonder if they can actually pull either of these moves off. Right now, only time will tell.

Gabriel Martinelli 2025/26 Premier League stats

	Games	Goals	Assists
Martinelli	30	1	4

Gabriel Martinelli 2025/26 World Cup stats

	Games	Goals	Assists
Martinelli	4	1	0

Alexis Mac Allister 2025/26 Premier League stats

	Games	Goals	Assists
Mac Allister	37	2	4

Alexis Mac Allister 2026 World Cup stats

	Games	Goals	Assists
Mac Allister	8	1	1

Would Arsenal or Liverpool suffer for losing Martinelli or Mac Allister?

Liverpool cannot afford to lose central midfielders at the moment. With Curtis Jones reportedly on his way out of the club to join Inter Milan [via Sky Sports], the Reds would be short of numbers in the middle of the park if Mac Allister was also allowed to leave.

Furthermore, Mac Allister is amongst the best players at Anfield right now. A dynamic box-to-box player who keeps the energy high in midfield, they do not have a like-for-like replacement for him in the squad right now.

Martinelli, on the other hand, is at risk of becoming surplus to requirements at Arsenal. His Premier League stats from last season left a lot to be desired, as the Gunners look to improve upon their wide options.

Trossard leaving the club stabilised his position, but with the arrival of Christos Tzolis, another right winger on the books would render him a third-choice option.

Arsenal seem to be making it clear that they can do without him. As such, so long as Galatasaray can beat the other interested parties to the punch, this seems like a much more realistic ambition right now.

This article first appeared on Essential Football and was syndicated with permission.

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