Arsenal: Putting into context Gabriel Martinelli’s greatness

It is easy to overlook just how great Gabriel Martinelli’s first season at Arsenal has been. It might be time to step back and reconsider just how marvellous he has been.

In the overhyped world of modern football, it is easy for fans to fall into the trap of believing something before it is true. As has often been the case with plenty of Arsenal players, performances and prospects in the past, supporters have led themselves to believe the optimistic side before it has become a realistic outcome.

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Remember when Chuba Akpom was meant to be the next great centre-forward? Or Gedion Zelalem was the combination of Andres Iniesta and Xavi? Or Carlos Vela would become the Mexican Lionel Messi?

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Accurate analysis of those doing well is very difficult. We are all susceptible to rose-tintedness as equally as we are likely to overlook achievements because our expectations were overly lofty. Either leads to opinion that does not properly represent what is actually true.

This all brings me to the quiet brilliance of Gabriel Martinelli, an 18-year-old Brazilian attacker who has taken Arsenal and the Premier League more generally by storm — it was just a few weeks ago that Jurgen Klopp was calling him a generational talent, hailing him as a great player and using his quality as an excuse to defend the poor performance of one of his young defenders.

Signed in the summer for a modest fee, there was tentative curiosity regarding Martinelli when he first arrived. Sure, newly appointed Technical Director, Edu Gaspar, knew him well from his time in Brazil, but very little was expected of a teenager from the fourth tier of Brazilian football. However, a little like Matteo Guendouzi before him, Martinelli could not have impressed more.

In fact, for all the love and adorning that Martinelli has received this season, it still might not be sufficient to truly illustrate just how outrageous his first campaign in Europe has been. Remember, his remarkable performances and production has come when he has moved halfway across the world, is learning a new language and culture, all having only just turned 18 the summer before.

In all competitions, he has played 807 minutes of action. He has 12 goals and assists in that time, good for a direct contribution to a goal every 67.25 minutes. He was named Arsenal’s Player of the Month in October, his performances punctuated by two-goal displays against Standard Liege and Liverpool. Only Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has more goals than the Brazilian, who’s importance has heightened to a level that Freddie Ljungberg rested him in a Europa League match ahead of the champions coming to the Emirates.

More than just the numbers, his style of play has been superb. He is an incessant presser of the ball, he works tremendously hard, he is relentless, Luis Suarez-like in his approach, and infectious on the rest of the team, many of whom could do with taking a leaf out of his industrious book.

Martinelli has been nothing short of a revelation. All at the age of 18. Having played in only the fourth tier of Brazilian football. Signed for a pittance. Unknown. Unheralded. And yet, absolutely superb.