Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has raved about Gabriel Martinelli on the club’s official website at his latest press conference.
Martinelli has consistently been overlooked by Arsenal of late and did not even make their match day squad for their game against Tottenham Hotspur at the weekend.
Concerns have risen among Arsenal fan base, that they are not utilising one of their very best prospects.
But Arteta insists that the Brazilian is not being left out due to a lack of application.
To the contrary, the Arsenal boss insists that Martinelli continues to impress in training and he just needs to wait his turn, as he will be given chances.
“No, if anything it’s my fault, he has done everything perfect, he trains incredibly well every day, his attitude cannot be any better, he is disappointed he is not playing more obviously and I have spoken to him, but he needs to be a little bit patient,” he said.
“He had some minutes, he had some games as well and it’s true the competition for the front positions is very tough but he needs to be patient and he will get his chance.”
Arteta has actually said similar about Eddie Nketiah and Folarin Balogun previously, but the pair have struggled for game time.
It seems unlikely that Martinelli will be overlooked in the same way, given his obvious talent.
But Arsenal supporters may well be hoping that Martinelli comes back into the fold sooner rather than later, as they are so excited by his potential.
The Gunners are next in action later this evening against Olympiacos, and that could be a good time to utilise Martinelli, as they are already 3-1 up in the tie on aggregate.
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