Arsenal: Where does Gabriel Martinelli fit in Arteta’s plans?

Not long ago, Gabriel Martinelli was seen as the saving grace for Arsenal Football Club. The young star taking to football in England like a duck to water, scoring goals and providing some unforgettable moments. Jurgen Klopp labelled him as the ‘talent of the century’ in 2019.

However, a knee injury in June 2020 that saw him miss 30 games has severely derailed his development and in doing so, the 20-year-old has fallen down the pecking order at the Emirates, something that seemed unthinkable when he first began breaking through.

Before his setback, Martinelli was a breath of fresh air for Arsenal in its post-Arsene Wenger era. Martinelli played 26 games in all competitions, scoring ten goals and providing four assists before the injury struck.

Coming back from the injury was a long process and given how highly rated he was, a cautious approach was taken. Despite this, when Martinelli did return, he wasn’t the same player, playing 23 games and scoring just two goals in all appearances with one of them coming against Crystal Palace in the second to last game of the campaign.

Where does Gabriel Martinelli fit in Mikel Arteta’s plans at Arsenal and what comes next for the Brazilian winger who isn’t playing?

Now with the Brazilian being fully fit, it was expected that he would be seeing more game time; a gradual integration designed to easy him back into the fold. That hasn’t gone as planned.

Martinelli started both of Arsenal’s opening two games of the season against Brentford and Chelsea when the squad was decimated by injury and COVID. It was his chance to stamp his authority on the first team.

Playing 79 minutes in the loss to Brentford as a left-winger, Martinelli never really looked like getting into the game as the Gunners were soundly beaten by the Bees. Then onto Chelsea where he was played through the middle and like most of his teammates, was largely ineffective. He had got two chances to show Arteta he was worthy of starting and both times didn’t produce when needed. There was plenty of knee-jerk response to two performances littered with mitigation.

But what since? What is next for Martinelli?

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What Next for Gabriel Martinelli at Arsenal?

Martinelli has since been an unused substitute for the last five Premier League games with his only action coming in the EFL Cup. He came on for the last 14 minutes in Arsenal’s 6-0 demolition of a youthful West Brom team and then 76 minutes in a 3-0 over AFC Wimbledon.

To further illustrate Martinelli’s fall in the pecking order, against Brighton in Arsenal’s last league outing, Bukayo Saka went off injured as the game was at a 0-0 stalemate, Arteta opted to go for a defensive approach with Ainsley Maitland-Niles instead of chasing a winner with Martinelli. It felt like the perfect game state to introduce him.

So, where does Martinelli stand at Arsenal? Not in a good way at the moment. It’s hard to see where the minutes will come from.

Arteta stated that Martinelli has to earn his time and at this stage, he isn’t. It is likely that Martinelli will only get chances as a substitute in the league and possibly starting in cup games but if Arsenal does not progress, then his playing time could be extremely limited. More so than currently.

One saving grace for Martinelli could come in January. With Arsenal set to lose both Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Nicolas Pepe to the African Cup of Nations, the young Brazilian could potentially get his chance to get an extended run in the team to show Arteta and the fans that he still has all the talent people know he has. He will be hoping Gabon and Ivory Coast have fruitful campaigns.

Whether he gets the chance under Arteta remains to be seen but Arsenal fans do not want to see another (yes, it’s coming) Serge Gnabry situation in which he saw limited game time before he was sold and is now a German international and a world-class winger for Bayern Munich.

One thing is for sure, Martinelli’s Arsenal career has stagnated and is at risk of being cut short. The talent is undeniable but has not been seen regularly. Is Martinelli a part of Arteta’s plans going forward or will he be the latest young star to seek a new challenge away from the club? Someone of his ability needs to be playing senior football.

One sincerely hopes we see the best of Martinelli in an Arsenal shirt in the coming months.