Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has once again heaped praise on Arsenal starlet Gabriel Martinelli after his superb performance against the Reds on Wednesday night.
Arsenal were hoping to pick up a sixth straight win by beating Liverpool, something that really would have shown the progress under Mikel Arteta.
The Gunners put up a great fight and were impressive in the first half but ultimately fell to a 2-0 defeat.
Diogo Jota and Roberto Firmino bagged the goals in the second half, securing a huge win for Liverpool in the title race.
Liverpool certainly knew they were in a game though, with winger Martinelli turning in a superb display down the Arsenal left.
The Brazilian ace was a threat throughout, posing problems to Trent Alexander-Arnold all night long.
Martinelli completed three successful dribbles and so nearly scored late on, bending a shot just wide of Alisson’s left-hand post.
Martinelli turned Alexander-Arnold inside-out a couple of times, but the Liverpool ace stuck at his task in a great battle.
Klopp has previously spoken very highly of Martinelli.
In 2019, Klopp branded the Brazilian a ‘talent of the century’, before then doubling down earlier this year by calling Martinelli ‘outstanding’.
Klopp was it again on Wednesday night, telling Sky Sports that he thinks Martinelli is ‘such a talented boy’.
Klopp also took the opportunity to rave about Alexander-Arnold, claiming he will ‘knock down’ anybody who still thinks the England man can’t defend.
“Martinelli is such a talented boy and it’s really tricky,” said Klopp. “If anybody says that Trent can’t defend, he should come to me and I’ll knock him down – honestly – I cannot hear that anymore, I don’t know what the boy has to do,” he added.
It’s abundantly clear that Klopp loves Martinelli, and that may just leave Arsenal fans fearing the worst.
Liverpool won’t be in the market for another attacker after signing Luis Diaz in January, but don’t be surprised if Klopp comes calling for Martinelli one day.
Arsenal will at least be in a position to demand a huge fee for Martinelli, and those demands would absolutely be justified.
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