Gabriel Martinelli has been one of Arsenal’s best players this season.
Kieran Tierney has described Arsenal team-mate Gabriel Martinelli as ‘mind-blowing’ in training.
Both players are still relatively new to life in English football, after joining last summer.
But Martinelli has fared much better than his injury-hit Arsenal colleague, who hasn’t played since December and had barely kicked a ball in the Premier League prior to that point.
The 18-year-old Brazilian sensation has scored 10 goals across all competitions for the Gunners during what’s been a superb first season in North London.
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp described him as the talent of the century toward the end of 2019, after impressing for Arsenal in a League Cup tie at Anfield.
But Tierney can’t be surprised by how the South American youngster has excelled in England, revealing that he’s known about his ability since seeing him in training at London Colney early on.
He told his club’s official website when asked about which players impress him in training: “Gabriel Martinelli. When I first did a full training session with the team I was put up against him and the intensity of his play was honestly mind-blowing and I thought to myself: this is the standard I need to be at to play for Arsenal.”
Question is, how long will Arsenal keep hold of him for? Prior to this global health crisis, Real Madrid were linked with a £50 million move.
That almost certainly won’t happen now, with a lot of clubs struggling financially due to the loss of match-day revenue, but longer term it would be a surprise if he was at the Emirates Stadium, unless Mikel Arteta’s side start challenging for major honours prior to that.
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