Arsenal: Gabriel Martinelli about to do the Guendouzi

Arsenal have a chance to let Gabriel Martinelli fly, and that means that he is primed to follow the exact same path that Matteo Guendouzi took.

The Sheffield United match may not have turned out the way that Arsenal wanted. It’s hard to go another match where we lose a winning position and have to settle for a draw. But there are positives to be found therein, and one of them is Gabriel Martinelli.

He wasn’t great. He missed two chances early on, both after being set up by Nicolas Pepe, and that was annoying, but the kid is a teenager, and we saw a bunch of what makes him special. All again. The same stuff that we’ve seen before.

The fact that he was the guy to put in the only goal for the boys in red may have been seen as a happy coincidence, but he had to be in that spot, didn’t he?

It’s not everyday you sign a teenager that is ready-made. Ready to get in there, mix things up and be something more than just a prospect.

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Then again, I guess we did do this not all that long ago. We did it with Matteo Guendouzi. We got him from literally nowhere and in zero time whatsoever, he was in the thick of things, shaking things up, proving that he was something more than just a prospect.

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang commented after the match that Martinelli (otherwise known as Gabi) had the right attitude, energy and mindset. This was unprompted, it’s not like he had to do it, but he is absolutely right. Even when he scored the goal, the smile on his face gave away that he was in this for much more than that.

Martinelli, when given the chance, proves that he is ready. It’s why I’m not afraid to part ways with Aubameyang. Martinelli can do the job and he’s only going to get better the more he plays out there. The same way that Guendouzi did it.

All this to say that our teenage acquisition has been spot on. Give it a few more months and Martinelli’s value is going to skyrocket, just like Guendouzi’s did no more than a season into his time here. He went from £10m to £60m in months.

It’s not crazy to think that Gabriel Martinelli can do the exact same. He’s already in the midst of it, isn’t he?