Arsenal: Gabriel Martinelli, superstar in the making

Gabriel Martinelli became the youngest Arsenal player to score on their Premier League debut in Monday’s 3-1 win over West Ham United. He is a superstar in the making.

For 61 minutes, almost nothing had happened. Bar a calamitous deflected header veering past Bernd Leno, Monday night’s contest between two lacklustre teams who looked desperate for anything to break their way was an utter bore. A lack of quality and crisis of confidence, this was two sides struggling for form.

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And then Gabriel Martinelli popped up. After largely bumbling the ball around for much of the hour he had spent on the pitch before, the 18-year-old Brazilian found himself in space on the edge of the penalty area. Sead Kolasinac pulled a cross to Martinelli’s feet, and without hesitation, on pure instinct, he slid a brilliant first-time finish into the far bottom corner. 1-1.

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Arsenal would go on to score another two goals in the next nine minutes to secure a 3-1 victory. Suddenly, they looked like a team playing with confidence, verve, intensity, a freedom of expression that suggested they were not concerned with mistakes and instead focusing on what they might create by taking offensive risks. And it all stemmed from a bit of an instinctive brilliance from the Gunners’ youngest goalscorer to score on their Premier League debut.

After the match, interim head coach Freddie Ljungberg did not hold back on his praise for the youngster:

"“Gabi is a fantastic player. He’s still very young but he has that energy about him and he goes and he goes. He has no fear and he just keeps on going. So it’s a pleasure to see him there on that pitch, and for him to get the success that he did today, it gives you a smile to your face.”"

This fearlessness has been the definition of Martinelli’s season. He is already the club’s second-highest goalscorer behind Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, scored on his EFL Cup, Europa League and now Premier League debut, and seemingly offers little time or thought to where he is and what he is doing. This is an 18-year-old who was playing fourth division Brazilian football last year. He is now shining in the toughest division in the world.

It is his attitude that sets him apart. As David Luiz noted earlier this season, he works in training and plays on the pitch with a superstar commitment and swagger. He believes in his abilities, understands his potential, and is fully applied to fulfilling it. And he has this instinctive knack for producing just when it matters most.

A little like many of the great goalscorers in the game, if you had to highlight one specific attribute that Martinelli excels at, it would not be all that easy. And yet, he has this brilliant knack for scoring goals, and as Monday night perfectly illustrated, goals change games.

Martinelli is a superstar in the making. He has the attitude, the ability and the opportunity to shine. Arsenal are very lucky to have him indeed.