Arsenal: Gabriel Martinelli settling Eddie Nketiah fears

Gabriel Martinelli scored twice in an excellent performance in Arsenal’s 5-0 win over Nottingham Forest. He is settling the fears of striker depth that Eddie Nketiah’s departure created.

Arsenal head coach Unai Emery agonised over the future of Eddie Nketiah all summer long. The 20-year-old was ready to play regular football. He scored goals in pre-season, was pushing hard for more minutes, but was never going to unseat Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang or Alexandre Lacazette. A loan seemed inevitable.

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But with Danny Welbeck’s exit and the fact that Lacazette and Aubameyang would both start alongside one another, Nketiah, as the third-choice striker in the squad, was the next man up. Emery, it was felt, needed him.

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It the end, Nketiah was allowed to leave on loan. He moved to Leeds United, where he has already scored four goals and is beginning to work his way into the starting XI. But it still left Arsenal without a recognised back-up for Aubameyang and Lacazette. So when Lacazette aggravated an ankle injury that he was previously playing through and was relegated to the sidelines for a month to rest it, the squad looked a little bare.

Indeed, Aubameyang, despite starting every game so far this season, played the full 90 minutes against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Europa League last Thursday night, Emery having no other viable options to field at the centre-forward position. The fears regarding Nketiah’s departure were being realised.

But on Tuesday night, another young attacker threw his name into the ring of depth pieces. 18-year-old Gabriel Martinelli, starting his first senior game for the club in the third round of the Carabao Cup, scored twice in an excellent individual performance as the lone striker in a 5-0 victory over Nottingham Forest. After the match, Emery was full of praise of the summer signing:

"“He was working in each training with a big spirit and with a big performance and I spoke with him to have some passion for when he gets his opportunity to play, to do like he was doing in the training and the matches in the pre-season. Tonight he did that. Really, he deserved it because he is very humble, a humble player and he fights, he is hungry to have that opportunity to help us and really it was perfect, his work tonight.”"

Those previously realised fears may not be so daunting now. Martinelli is not at the all-around level of Nketiah just yet. He must prove that he can be consistent before any grounded conclusions are drawn. One game is not a large enough sample size, of course. But did he prove that he has the talent to handle a starting gig in the EFL Cup and maybe even Europa League? Absolutely. And with Lacazette and Aubameyang in the squad, that is all you need him to do.

And so, while Nketiah hopefully starts regularly for Leeds and gains precious first-team experience as a centre-forward, Arsenal’s fears about a lack of depth as a consequence of his departure are soothed. All in all, then, this is a win for everyone involved.