Arsenal forward’s transfer exit ruled out | OneFootball

Mikel Arteta has ruled out a late transfer exit for Gabriel Martinelli this summer, insisting the Brazilian will remain an important part of his squad.

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Gabriel Martinelli has only played an hour of Arsenal’s first two matches of the Premier League campaign, coming off early against Manchester United and then failing to feature at all against Leeds.

With the arrival of Eberechi Eze and Noni Madueke, as well as Leandro Trossard’s return from injury, competition for places on the left only seems to be growing.

Madueke is likely to be needed more on the right for the time being, in Bukayo Saka’s absence. But that still leaves three players for one spot on the left, even if we’re assuming that Reiss Nelson departs as expected.

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Martinelli’s minutes may well decrease this season as a result, but Mikel Arteta has insisted the player isn’t up for sale in the last couple of days of the summer window.

“No, I think Gabi has been a super important player for us and he’s going to remain very, very, very important,” Arteta said. “The fact that we have options with different qualities, that’s going to fulfil what we want, because every opponent is going to require different things.

“Then the state, the moment, the way that those players are impacting the game – that competition is needed. We have it in many other areas on the pitch and it’s needed, especially in the front line, to start the game and to finish the game. So, I’m very happy with what we have.”

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Sunday’s game away to Liverpool should give us our first hint at how things are going to play out this season. If Eze immediately steps into the lineup, questions will certainly be asked about the role Martinelli and Trossard are set to play.

Yet Martinelli has generally had a good record against Liverpool, scoring six and assisting two in his 12 appearances. Five of those eight goal contributions are at Anfield.

Combine that with the fact that Eze is only just settling in with his new teammates, and you’d expect Martinelli to be favoured over the alternatives this weekend.