Arsenal: Get comfortable, this is Gabriel Martinelli’s future

Arsenal starlet Gabriel Martinelli is going through the same thing that Matteo Guendouzi went through and like Guendouzi, we need to settle in and get used to it.

Arsenal’s crop of young talents is tremendous, but there are two that stand above all the rest—Matteo Guendouzi and Gabriel Martinelli. And, to be fair, you have to throw Bukayo Saka in there as well, the different is just that Guendouzi and Martinelli came from foreign leagues with a big dose of unknown that turned into something really special.

And any time you have someone this special, you have to accept that there are going to be top tier teams rolling in trying to get their name attached to him. Guendouzi went through it last year and Martinelli is going through it this year.

For Guendouzi, it was just half a season after joining that PSG came sniffing with a rumored £60m offer. The Gunners made it clear that the young man was not for sale, but you can bet we have not seen the last of that.

For Martinelli, it isn’t much difference. But the difference for him is just that Barcelona were already interested in him, but the Brazilian chose the Emirates over Camp Nou.

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It didn’t take long for Barcelona to speak out about how much they wish they’d have landed Martinelli instead. Hard not to think that when he’s the second leading scorer at Arsenal behind just Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

But it’s not Barcelona barking up the Martinelli tree this time. Now it’s Real Madrid. Of course they are. He’s young and talented and they have unlimited money.

Thankfully, Martinelli has come out and denied that there has been any contact at all. As any player would do. But it’s a byproduct of having tremendous talent—we are going to have teams with a lot of money and a lot of luster coming after them.

Arsenal haven’t had this problem since Hector Bellerin was young. Back then, Barcelona were constantly knocking on his door, and after Cesc Fabregas pulled the switch, it felt like just a matter of time before Bellerin left. He hasn’t, he’s still here, and we’re thankful for that, but now we need to see the same with Martinelli.

Martinelli is still in the honeymoon phase with the club, so we don’t have anything to worry about in the early going. But this is going to be a persistent annoyance throughout his stay, so get comfortable.