Martin Keown has claimed that Gabriel Martinelli ‘doesn’t actually play for Arsenal’ and used Martin Odegaard’s comments about the Brazilian to make a point to Mikel Arteta.
All the talk in North London these past few months has been about how exciting Gunners duo Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe are.
But Martinelli was considered one of Europe’s hottest properties since joining Arsenal in a £6 million deal back in the summer of 2019.
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp described him as a ‘talent of the century’ in October of that year and Real Madrid playmaker Martin Odegaard – who is on loan with Arteta’s side – admitted last month that he was blown away by the 19-year-old attacker’s quality.
But for whatever reason, Arteta has habitually snubbed Martinelli virtually since his return from injury late last year, with the kid only managing 233 minutes of Premier League football this season.
For someone who ran the length of the pitch and scored at Stamford Bridge last term, it’s a puzzling situation and Arsenal legend Keown claims that it is ‘surely’ time to start playing him.
He told talkSPORT: “He has a youngster Martinelli. Odegaard has been in a Real Madrid dressing room and has said he’s the best young player he has seen in years. He doesn’t actually play for Arsenal, he just trains. Surely it is time to give him a game.”
Let’s be honest, Arsenal, who are 10th in the Premier League, don’t have much to play for domestically.
They aren’t going to finish in the top six and therefore Arteta ought to start re-introducing the likes of Martinelli on a regular basis, with a view toward having them ready for next season.
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