Gabriel Martinelli has been speaking to The Athletic about life at Arsenal, and he made a significant claim about the Gunners.
What’s the story?
Well, the 20-year-old clearly has a lot of confidence in his teammates, as he believes Arsenal will soon become one of the best sides on the planet.
Martinelli told The Athletic: “We are so young. The oldest player in the game against City was Laca but a lot of players are 22, 23, 24. We have time to improve and we are going to do that. 100%, we will be one of the best teams in the world.”
Now, that’s a bold statement, but we don’t disagree.
Arsenal currently boast a number of incredible talents who are 23 or younger, such as Bukayo Saka, Emile Smith Rowe, Martin Ødegaard, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Aaron Ramsdale and Martinelli himself.
Other key men, such as Ben White and Kieran Tierney, are only 24.
This crop of wonderkids are already playing at a very high level, and are also in contention to qualify for the Champions League this season.
When they get a bit more experience under their belts, Arsenal will become a scarily good team, in our view.
Arsenal need more to recognise Gabriel Martinelli vision
While we agree with Martinelli, there is one missing piece.
Mikel Arteta has to sign an outstanding young centre-forward who can spearhead this exciting side.
As things stand, the Gunners only have Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah, both of whom are out of contract in the summer.
So, who could Arsenal sign? One option is Lille wonderkid Jonathan David, who has impressively netted 16 goals this season.
According to The Athletic, Arsenal want to sign the 22-year-old.
Another option is the 24-year-old Everton talisman Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who the Daily Star believe is another target for the Gunners.
Clearly, Arteta recognises the need for a new centre-forward, but only time will tell who he decides to pursue.
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