Xhaka believes summer signing can be the next Martinelli | OneFootball

Marquinhos’ impressive debut for the Arsenal u21s seemingly reflects his performances in training, with Granit Xhaka suggesting he could follow in Gabriel Martinelli’s footsteps.

Marquinhos starred for the Arsenal u21s against Manchester United this weekend, scoring one, assisting one, and forcing another goal with a shot turned in on the rebound.

The Gunners’ summer signing was involved in chance after chance, and he looked a level above youth football.

We’re yet to see much of Marquinhos with the first team so far. He made a 28-minute appearance against Chelsea and a 32-minute appearance against FC Nurnberg, but his only pre-season start came in the untelevised friendly versus Brentford.

The Brazilian is obviously featuring more regularly with the senior side in training, and Granit Xhaka has given his assessment of what he’s seen.

“He reminds me of Gabi Martinelli when he first came, everyone was saying ‘yeah he will go to the under-23s first’ and stuff like this, but how Gabi adapted at this level was unbelievable,” Xhaka recalled.

“I have the same feeling with Marquinhos as well. For his age, he is very developed physically, very fast, good left foot.

“Of course, he needs to adapt to this level first, this country as well, but I see a big future for this guy.”

Marquinhos has started in the u21s, but his debut suggests he won’t be there long. Perhaps it’s too soon to draw any conclusions, but at the very least, Manchester United didn’t provide much competition for the new Arsenal man.

If he continues to impress in further u21 fixtures against West Ham United, Chelsea, Brighton, and Cambridge United this month, it’d be hard to deny him senior opportunities or a loan after that.