Arsenal: Gabriel Martinelli has to start, right?

Gabriel Martinelli is shining in an Arsenal shirt, scoring twice in as many Premier League games. Surely he has to be a regular starter now, right?

You would be forgiven for thinking that an 18-year-old who was plying in trade in the fourth tier of Brazilian football would struggle to adapt to the Premier League, the highest standard of the sport in the world. It is not unreasonable to hold such expectations. And yet, thus far, Gabriel Martinelli is laying them all to waste.

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Arsenal’s teenage sensation has ripped up the script. Bursting onto the scene with that inimitable South American vigour and vivacity, Martinelli is taking no prisoners, including World Cup-winning defensive midfielder who can only flounder in his wake.

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Martinelli’s 67-yard driving run and finish against Chelsea was equal parts luck and skill. It was actually a loose touch that led to Kante’s fall, the Frenchman slipping as he pushed off his back foot to challenge the ball after it slipped away from Martinelli’s control. But the pace, control, and composure to then run away from the Chelsea defence and slide a beautifully calm finish past the stranded Kepa Arrizabalaga was outrageous. This was Martinelli playing with the sensibility and soundness of a savvy veteran, not a rip-roaring teenager.

His head coach was quite aware of the brilliance of his new star. Speaking in his post-match press conference, head coach Mikel Arteta made it quite plain just how rare and wonderful Martinelli’s performance at Stamford Bridge was:

"“To play in this stadium the way he’s done, and with 10 men, and to play against Azpilicueta who’s in my opinion one of the best defenders in the league. He was going against him every single time. You need courage to do that. Then his energy. I wanted to take him off a few times because he looked knackered. He was cramping and the next minute he’s sprinting 60 yards again. He absolutely stepped up.”"

Martinelli now has 10 goals on the season. He is Arsenal’s second-highest goalscorer. He has two goals in his last two Premier League games and has scored three in his last five starts. The question, then, must now turn to the future, and not just what he may become one day but what he already is in the present. Martinelli has proven that he deserves to start.

While Alexandre Lacazette endures a month-and-a-half without a goal, Nicolas Pepe only shines in brief spurts and still leaves a lot to be desired defensively, Mesut Ozil looks anonymous for long periods of time, and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is suspended and entirely useful for goals and little else, Martinell is flourishing.

These may be the veteran attacking players that Arteta has available to him, but they are being outperformed by an 18-year-old. Surely, then, that 18-year-old deserves to play.