Gabriel Martinelli

Gabriel Teodoro Martinelli Silva (Brazilian Portuguese: [ɡabɾiˈɛw maɾˈtʃĩnɛli]; born 18 June 2001), commonly known as Gabriel Martinelli, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a forward for English Premier League club Arsenal. Martinelli is known for his speed, positional awareness, and goalscoring ability.[4]

This name uses Portuguese naming customs: the first or maternal family name is Martinelli and the second or paternal family name is Silva.
Gabriel Martinelli
Martinelli playing for Arsenal in 2020
Personal information
Full name Gabriel Teodoro Martinelli Silva[1]
Date of birth (2001-06-18) 18 June 2001[2]
Place of birth Guarulhos, Brazil
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[3]
Playing position(s) Forward
Club information
Current team
 Arsenal
Number 35
Youth career
2010–2014 Corinthians
2015–2019 Ituano
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2018–2019 Ituano 0 (0)
2019– Arsenal 14 (3)
National team‡
2019– Brazil U23 2 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 13:38, 10 February 2020 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 05:10, 22 January 2020 (UTC)

Born and raised in Guarulhos, Martinelli initially featured as a futsal player for Corinthians, before beginning his football career with Série D club Ituano in 2015. After featuring and scoring for Ituano in the league and Campeonato Paulista, Martinelli signed for English club Arsenal in 2019.

At international level, Martinelli represents the Brazil under-23s, but is eligible to play for Italy through his father.[5]

Club career

Ituano

Born in Guarulhos, São Paulo, Martinelli started his career in 2010, playing for Corinthians' futsal team.[6] After making the breakthrough in football fields, he moved to Ituano in 2015, having subsequent trials at Manchester United and Barcelona.[7]

On 4 November 2017, Martinelli signed his first professional contract until October 2022.[8] He made his professional debut the following 17 March, coming on as a late substitute for goalscorer Claudinho in a 2–1 away win; at the age of 16 years and nine months, he became the youngest player to debut for the club in the century.[9]

Martinelli scored his first senior goal on 8 September 2018, netting his team's second in a 4–1 away routing of Taboão da Serra, for the year's Copa Paulista.[10] Definitively promoted to the first team for the 2019 Campeonato Paulista, he scored six goals during the competition, being the club's top goalscorer as they reached the quarterfinals; highlights included a brace in a 3–0 away win against Bragantino on 15 March.

Arsenal

Martinelli was reportedly subject to interest from a number of clubs, but signed a long term contract with Premier League club Arsenal on 2 July 2019.[11] As he holds an Italian passport, he was able to play immediately as he does not require a visa or work permit.[12] He scored a goal on his non-competitive debut, in a 3–0 pre-season victory against the Colorado Rapids.[13]

2019–20: Debut season
"Martinelli did amazing. He's like a Duracell battery, he keeps going."

—Arsenal's then-interim head coach Freddie Ljungberg on Martinelli's Premier League debut.[14]

Martinelli made his Premier League debut on 11 August 2019 in a 1–0 win against Newcastle United, coming on in the 84th minute as a substitute for Henrikh Mkhitaryan.[15]

On 24 September, Martinelli scored a brace on his first competitive start for the club in a 5–0 victory over Championship side Nottingham Forest in the EFL Cup. Martinelli opened and closed the scoring, first with a near-post header, and secondly with a long-range effort. Both were assisted by Calum Chambers. His performance received praise from head coach Unai Emery, who said: "He's hungry to have that opportunity to help us, he is very humble, he fights. I told him to have some patience for his opportunity to do like he was doing. He did that. He deserved it."[16]

Martinelli made his second start for Arsenal in a 4–0 home win over Standard Liege in the UEFA Europa League, in which he scored another brace. His first goal came in the thirteenth minute following a cross from fellow summer signing Kieran Tierney. He added his second three minutes later by cutting in on his right foot in the penalty area and scoring into the far corner. Martinelli also created his first assist of the season by setting up Arsenal's fourth goal, which was scored by Dani Ceballos.[17] Martinelli kept up his goalscoring form, netting the equaliser in a 3–2 home win over Vitória Guimarães, with yet another header.[18]

In the League Cup fourth round, Martinelli registered yet another brace in a 5–5 draw with Liverpool. Martinelli also scored his penalty in the penalty shootout, which Arsenal eventually lost.[19] As a result, Martinelli became the highest-scoring teenager for a top-five European league club, netting seven goals in seven appearances in all competitions. He also became the first player to score four times in his first four starts since Ian Wright.[20][21] Martinelli's performance received praise from Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp, who labelled him '[the] talent of the century'.[22]

"He's an 18-year-old kid with all the enthusiasm [but is] brave [enough] to threaten the opponent every time. The way he went about every single action is impressive."

—Arsenal's head coach Mikel Arteta on Martinelli's performances.[23]

Martinelli's performances led to him being awarded the Arsenal 'Player of the Month' award for October, receiving 75% of the total votes cast, beating out Matteo Guendouzi and fellow summer-signing Nicolas Pépé.[24] On 28 November, Martinelli recorded another assist, setting up Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang in a 1–2 home loss to Eintracht Frankfurt.[25] After the appointment of interim head coach Freddie Ljungberg, Martinelli started his first Premier League game and scored Arsenal's equaliser in an eventual 1–3 win over West Ham United. He scored his second league goal, and first after the appointment of permanent head coach Mikel Arteta, in Arsenal's 1–1 draw with Sheffield United on 11 January.[26]

In the following game, Martinelli scored in a 2–2 away draw at Chelsea; his goal involved a 67-yard direct sprint across the field to net Arsenal's first equaliser. The goal made Martinelli the first teenager to reach double figures in a single season for Arsenal since Nicolas Anelka.[27]

International career

Martinelli was born in Brazil, and is of Italian descent through his father;[28] he holds dual Brazilian-Italian citizenship.[12] On 20 May 2019, Martinelli was called up by Brazil national team manager Tite to complete preparatory training for the 2019 Copa América.[29] In November 2019, Martinelli appeared for Brazil's under-23 side at the United International Football Festival in Spain.[30]

Career statistics
As of match played 2 March 2020[31]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League State League National Cup League Cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Ituano 2018 Paulista —3[lower-alpha 1]0———17[lower-alpha 2]4204
2019 Série D 0014[lower-alpha 1]6————146
Total 00176———1743410
Arsenal 2019–20[32] Premier League 143—3[lower-alpha 3]02[lower-alpha 4]47[lower-alpha 5]3—2610
Career total 1431763024731746020
  1. Appearances in Campeonato Paulista
  2. Appearances in Copa Paulista
  3. Appearances in FA Cup
  4. Appearances in EFL Cup
  5. Appearances in UEFA Europa League

Honours

Individual

References
  1. "Updated squad lists for 2019/20 Premier League". Premier League. 6 February 2020. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
  2. "Gabriel Martinelli". Arsenal F.C. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
  3. "Gabriel Martinelli: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
  4. https://metro.co.uk/2019/11/01/jurgen-klopp-hails-arsenal-youngster-gabriel-martinelli-talent-century-11022987/
  5. "Gabriel Martinelli eligibility: Will he play for Italy or Brazil in international football?". Goal. 9 October 2019. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  6. "Ele fez mais de 200 gols na base do Corinthians, foi para o Ituano e agora é testado no United" [He scored more than 200 goals at Corinthians' youth setup, went to Ituano and now is trialled at United] (in Portuguese). ESPN Brasil. 28 July 2017. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
  7. "Quem é Martinelli? Artilheiro da Copinha trocou o Corinthians pelo Ituano e é monitorado pelo Barça" [Who is Martinelli? Copinha goalscorer changed Corinthians for Ituano and is targeted by Barça] (in Portuguese). Globo Esporte. 11 January 2019. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
  8. "Promessa do Galo, Gabriel Martinelli assina até 2022" [Prospect of Galo, Gabriel Martinelli signs until 2022] (in Portuguese). Jornal Periscópio. 4 November 2017. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
  9. "Gabriel Martinelli é o atleta mais jovem a estrear no Ituano" [Gabriel Martinelli is the youngest player to debut at Ituano] (in Portuguese). Ituano FC. 20 March 2018. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
  10. "Taboão da Serra 1 × 4 Ituano – Com início avassalador, Galo vence e assume liderança" [Taboão da Serra 1–4 Ituano – With a storming start, Galo win and take on leadership] (in Portuguese). Futebol Interior. 8 September 2014. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
  11. "Gabriel Martinelli to join club". Arsenal F.C. 2 July 2019.
  12. "Gabriel Martinelli does not rule out he could play for Italy". Tribuna.com. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
  13. "Gabriel Martinelli scores as youthful Arsenal team open US tour with win". BBC Sport. 16 July 2019.
  14. {{cite news |first=Simon |last=Stone |title=West Ham United 1–3 Arsenal |website=BBC Sport |date=9 December 2019 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/50625463
  15. Chowdhury, Saj (11 August 2019). "Newcastle 0–1 Arsenal: Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang strike seals win". BBC Sport.
  16. "Arsenal 5–0 Nottingham Forest: Unai Emery praises Gabriel Martinelli after League Cup brace". BBC Sport. 24 September 2019.
  17. Sanders, Emma. "Arsenal 4–0 Standard Liege: Gabriel Martinelli impresses in ruthless win". BBC Sport. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  18. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/50159121
  19. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/50148250
  20. https://talksport.com/football/622882/gabriel-martinelli-incredible-arsenal-liverpool/
  21. https://www.standard.co.uk/sport/football/arsenal/arsenal-four-things-we-learned-mesut-ozil-gabriel-martinelli-impress-liverpool-a4274866.html
  22. https://tribuna.com/en/arsenal/news/3501752/
  23. {{cite news |first=Simon |last=Stone |title=Arsenal 1–1 Sheffield United |publisher=Arsenal F.C. |date=11 January 2020 |url=https://www.arsenal.com/news/arteta-draw-martinelli-transcript
  24. https://www.arsenal.com/news/martinelli-our-october-player-month
  25. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/50578269
  26. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/51073186
  27. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/51101529
  28. Brown, Cy. "5 Things To Know About New Arsenal Attacker Gabriel Martinelli". Forbes.
  29. "Martinelli, do Ituano, é chamado por Tite para treinos da Seleção na Copa América" [Martinelli, from Ituano, is called up by Tite for trainings of the Seleção in the Copa América] (in Portuguese). Globo Esporte. 20 May 2019. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
  30. "Seleção Brasileira Olímpica definida para encarar os EUA na Espanha" [Olympic Brazil squad set to face the USA in Spain] (in Portuguese). Brazilian Football Confederation. 14 November 2019. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
  31. Martinelli at Soccerway. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
  32. "Games played by Gabriel Martinelli in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 4 October 2019.
  33. "Corinthians, Jean Mota e Martinelli dominam premiação do campeonato" [Corinthians, Jean Mota and Martinelli dominate the tournament's awards] (in Portuguese). Federação Paulista de Futebol. 22 April 2019. Retrieved 23 April 2019.
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