Speaking on the Talking Transfers Podcast, Graeme Bailey has been discussing Gabriel Martinelli’s rise and how he almost became a Middlesbrough player.
The Brazilian winger is now a bona fide star of world football. He’s just come back from representing the five-time World Cup winners in Qatar, and is now in line for a brand new bumper Arsenal contract.
However, things could’ve turned out rather differently for the winger.
Indeed, according to Bailey, Martinelli very nearly ended up at the Riverside Stadium. The journalist claims that the player was recommended to Boro when he was just a teenager by club legend Juninho who ran Ituano when Martinelli was breaking through there.
Martinelli nearly joined Boro
Bailey shared the tale of Martinelli almost heading to Teesside.
“Talking of Juninho, he can tie into this story. Gabriel Martinelli was signed from Ituano, the club that Juninho used to run before he took charge of the Brazilian national team. Heartbreakingly, he was recommended to Middlesbrough at some point, Martinelli has done wonderfully well for Arsenal. He’s going to go from being one of the lowest earners in the squad to one of the highest,” Bailey said.
Sliding doors moment
In football there are a few near-misses that can be described as history-changing.
Robert Lewandowski’s failed move to Fulham in 2010 is a great example, as is Zinedine Zidane’s touted transfer to Blackburn in the 1990s, but this is a true modern day sliding doors moment.
If Martinelli had gone to Boro, who knows where the Riversiders would be right now. They’d surely have had at least one crack at getting promoted from the Championship with the Brazilian in the team, and even if they hadn’t gone up, he’d have commanded a big transfer fee at some point.
Sadly for Boro, Arsenal beat them to this signing, and now, Martinelli is arguably one of the Premier League’s top attackers.
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