Mikel Arteta has ruled out the possibility of Gabriel Martinelli leaving Arsenal any time soon, on the club’s official website.
Sticking around
Martinelli has struggled for game time at Arsenal this term, with the Brazilian often being overlooked.
There has been question marks in recent times over whether Arteta is giving the 20-year-old enough first-team action for him to fully develop.
A loan move in January, therefore, could have been a possibility if Arsenal wanted Martinelli to start more regularly.
However, Arteta has batted away suggestions that the £6 million man (Goal) could depart on a temporary move in the new year.
“I’m very happy with him. We’re not thinking about anything like that,” Arteta said, when asked when Martinelli could depart on loan.
In need of more chances
If Martinelli does stick around, as expected, he will surely want to be given more opportunities at the season progresses.
The Arsenal man is capable of playing out wide or up-front, but he has failed to really stake his claim in either position this term.
In total, the hard-working attacker has accumulated just four appearances, and only two of those have come in the Premier League.
It seems unlikely that Martinelli will be starting for Arsenal in their next match against Crystal Palace either.
Arteta revealed yesterday that Martinelli had picked up a minor injury, which means that he could be watching from the sidelines again when his teammates are next in action.
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