Arsenal make sensible Gabriel Martinelli transfer decision

When the team finds itself in this kind of form the last thing you want to do is start chopping and changing. Don’t fix what isn’t broken, and Arsenal are as far from fragmented as they have been all season long.

Some players have struggled for the minutes they’re craving and with ten unbeaten games in the bag their chances of wrestling their way into the starting lineup grows slimmer. Martin Odegaard has suffered that fate at the hands of a resurgent Alexandre Lacazette, while others were peripheral before and remain so.

Gabriel Martinelli is the obvious pick of the bunch.

With the wide berths in the team occupied by Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe, and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang the undisputed first choice centre-forward, minutes have been hard to come by for the Brazilian.

Arsenal make sensible Gabriel Martinelli transfer decision with Brazilian not set to leave the club on loan in January despite strong interest

His 339 minutes this season have come in the form of four starts and four substitute appearances, but on only one occasion has he completed the full 90, which came against Leeds in the Carabao Cup round of 16.

Naturally, the lack of playing time has prompted speculation of a move away in January, although his father spoke to Yahoo’s Jorge Nicola and insisted that Arsenal have immediately closed the door on the chances of Martinelli leaving on loan to Brazil or anywhere else.

"“No chance of him going to Corinthians or any other Brazilian club,” João Martinelli said.“Since he came back from an injury, he’s been playing a lot less than he’d have liked. There have even been some proposals from Europe, but Arsenal have already warned that they’ll not release him.”“People like him a lot. Not only for what he plays, but also for his dedication. Martinelli is almost always the first to arrive for training and the last to leave.”"

How could you not be frustrated? Any player not getting the opportunities they want, especially those who were outstanding in their debut season, is going to feel hard done by. In Martinelli’s case, the fact his commitment and work ethic haven’t dropped are a credit to his attitude.

If he’s sulking, it doesn’t show on the pitch.

This is someone who has to play more, and while a loan elsewhere to get him up to match sharpness would do him the world of good, of all the times in the season where he will be most needed, it’s now.

A hectic winter schedule will see even the most fringe players get minutes as rotation heavily comes into play, while January will also see the departures of Nicolas Pepe and Aubameyang to AFCON, two players who upon leaving will present a huge opportunity for Martinelli to stake a claim in the starting lineup. If Arsenal want a more like-for-like swap at centre-forward, the 20-year-old is the closest comparison to the captain in the squad.

Against Watford, does it say anything that the player introduced to help see the game out was Martinelli over Pepe? It might do. In those instances you want experience on the pitch and it was Gabi tasked with winding the clock down and keeping the ball.

That in itself may be an indication from Mikel Arteta.