Gabriel Martinelli stepping up perfectly at Arsenal after Nketiah exit

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Arsenal forward Gabriel Martinelli is showing that fans didn’t need to be worried about Eddie Nketiah’s loan move.

Arsenal have two of the best strikers in the Premier League in Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette, but have now found another promising attacking talent.

The Gunners hammered Standard Liege 4-0 on Thursday night, with Gabriel Martinelli scoring twice in their Europa League clash at the Emirates Stadium.

Martinelli has now racked up four goals in two starts for Arsenal in all competitions, and the Brazilian looks to have a bright future, giving Unai Emery just what he needed after sending Eddie Nketiah out on loan.

Arsenal decided to loan out promising young striker Nketiah in August, sending him to Leeds United for the season, where he has scored four times in nine games.

Yet when Lacazette went down with his injury, Arsenal fans took to Twitter to complain about the move, feeling that he should have been kept at the Emirates Stadium in case an injury like that occurred.

Now though, Martinelli is showing that fans didn’t need to worry, as he has stepped up to take his chance, and ensures that Emery has another young goalscorer he can call upon in times of need.

What’s also interesting is that it all could have been so different for both players. Earlier this year, TEAMtalk reported that Leeds wanted to sign Martinelli from Ituano, months before he ended up making his move to the Emirates Stadium.

Had events been a little different, it could have been Martinelli turning out for Leeds instead, leaving Nketiah to stay at Arsenal and turn out for Emery’s side rather than go out and play first-team football at Elland Road.

It’s worked out pretty well for Leeds, with Nketiah showing his potential under Marcelo Bielsa, but that he’s only on loan when Martinelli could have signed permanently may be something that stings ever so slightly.

Given that Arsenal have both Martinelli and Nketiah signed up for the future, they”ll be delighted with how things turned out, and with Martinelli already thriving, those fan concerns about Nketiah being at Leeds won’t be quite as strong as they were a few weeks ago.