Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta spoke to the media ahead of his side’s game against Southampton on Thursday.
The Gunners boss had a lot of positives to look on with respect to Pablo Mari and Cedric Soares’ contracts but he also had to deliver some terrible news about Gabriel Martinelli.
The Brazilian reportedly picked up a knock in training which didn’t seem serious at first. However, Martinelli is now set to face a long time on the sidelines.
Arteta said as quoted by Football London(20:08): “In training, in the last action, he (Martinelli) got hit by another player and damaged his knee. We’re looking at months (out). They are not muscular injuries, more traumatic but we have to deal with that.”
That is devastating news for the teenager as well as all the Arsenal fans who were looking forward to seeing him. Martinelli was a breath of fresh air around the Emirates this season.
The teenager came in as a nobody and made a fantastic name for himself very soon. Martinelli has 10 goals and four assists to his name this season which is a stunning record for a teenager in his debut season abroad.
It looks like Martinelli might even miss a part of next season which is a real blow. The likes of Reiss Nelson will have to step up their game now but it won’t be easy for them to have an impact as good as the Brazilian had at the start of the campaign.
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