Arsenal look to repeat Gabriel Martinelli transfer trick as Edu targets next superstar
According to James McNicholas of The Athletic, Arsenal is actively searching for a promising undiscovered talent to sign, similar to how they recruited Gabriel Martinelli in the summer of 2019. The goal is to find the next Martinelli during the upcoming summer transfer window, as stated by McNicholas.
“I think there might be young players who we sign, we might sign a 19 or 20-year-old who Mikel Arteta thinks the world of who could come into the first-team squad straight away”, McNicholas told the Arsecast podcast.
“I think they’re looking at a couple of South American talents as they did last summer with Marquinhos, I think there are another two or three players of interest to Edu and his team that could be the new Martinelli potentially. One of those guys who gets a chance in pre-season and goes on and does well.”
Martinelli joined from Itauno, a team competing in the fourth division of Brazilian football when Arsenal signed him at the age of 17. Since then, under Mikel Arteta’s guidance, the talented forward has experienced remarkable success.
During the 2022/23 season, Martinelli had an outstanding performance, scoring 15 goals in the Premier League, which was the highest tally among Arsenal players. His impressive form led to him being selected in several pundits’ team of the season, including Gary Neville, a legendary figure from Manchester United.
When asked on Twitter why he chose Martinelli over Marcus Rashford from Manchester United, Neville responded by stating:…” “Rashford and Martinelli have almost identical stats.It just came down to the football and combinations I’ve seen from Martinelli and Arsenal’s season with his impact on it.”
“It will undoubtedly be a significant challenge for Arsenal to discover a talent of similar caliber to Gabriel Martinelli, considering he was acquired for a mere £6 million. The club’s sporting director, Edu, has emphasized the importance of recruiting players who align with Mikel Arteta’s style of play when approaching the transfer market.
During an interview with ESPN Brazil last month, Edu stated:…”t’s identifying very well where we can improve. If they are individual, isolated positions, if they are units, if they are ‘final third’, as we call it here, if they are midfield, defensive part. This diagnosis we already have because we already have a very clear style of play by Arteta.
“Today, you see Arsenal playing and identify with it, you know that is Arsenal’s style. So now it’s time to understand where we can boost the units so that the team can improve and go to another level of performance.
“And I think there is another level, we have one more level. With me and Arteta talking, we find it, we believe that we have a level to improve in terms of performance.
“And now make a good transfer window, understand the need, to get right the athlete, the characteristics, the mentality of the athlete that we want, to once again raise the level of our squad.”
Arsenal look to repeat Gabriel Martinelli transfer trick as Edu targets next superstar
