Gabriel Martinelli is making his presence felt in Premier League

On September 8, 2018, at the age of 17, the boy from Sao Paolo, Gabriel Martinelli scored his first ever senior goal against Taboão da Serra for the year’s Copa Paulista. He was promoted to the senior side for the Compenato Paulista he following year and smashed six goals to become the club’s top scorer.  Martinelli started his career in 2010, playing for Corinthians' futsal team. After making the breakthrough in football fields, he moved to Ituano in 2015, having subsequent trials at Manchester United and Barcelona.

The scouts of top European clubs were tracking him because of his eye for goal, brilliance in the air and the ability to create individual moments, when the chips are down. In the end, Martinelli a long term contract with Premier League club Arsenal on July 2, 2019. He scored a goal on his non-competitive debut, in a 3–0 pre-season victory against the Colorado Rapids.

Martinelli made his Premier League debut on 11 August 2019 against Newcastle United, coming on in the 84th minute as a substitute for Henrikh Mkhitaryan.

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. He 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.  Martinelli also created his first assist of the season by setting up Arsenal's fourth goal, which was scored by Dani Ceballos.  Martinelli kept up his goal-scoring form, netting the equalizer in a 3–2 home win over Vitória Guimarães, with yet another header.

In the League Cup’s fourth round, Martinelli registered yet another brace in a thrilling 5–5 draw with Liverpool. Martinelli also scored his penalty in the penalty shootout, which Arsenal eventually lost. As a result, Martinelli became the highest-scoring teenager for a top-five European league club, netting 7 goals in 7 appearances in all competitions. He also became the first player to score 4 times in his first four starts since Ian Wright.  Martinelli's performance received praise from Liverpool manager Jürgen Jurgen Klopp, who labeled him 'talent of the century'.

When someone like Klopp praises you then certainly, you need to think how special Martinelli could be. Klopp would be delighted to witness Martinelli’s performance against Chelsea at Stamford Bridge last night.

How about that equalizer in the 63rd minute?

The Blues were leading by 1-0 and the Gunners needed a charismatic moment to come back into the game. Martinelli picked the ball from outside the penalty area of Arsenal and started off a solo-run to unleash the memories of Diego Maradona, Said Al Owairan and Roberto Baggio solo-goals. The defenders of Blues were outclassed one after another and the last man, who was beaten had been one of the best defensive midfielders in world – N’golo Kante. Martinelli kept on running until he beat Kepa and leveled the score.

In the end, a 10-men Arsenal held on to a draw against Chelsea, but Martinelli is the talk of the town. The teenager hit double figure for the season – the first teenager since the French talent Nicolas Anelka.

The Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta had been in all praise for the Brazilian kid.

“He’s an 18-year-old kid with all the enthusiasm but as well, he’s so brave to make decisions, to threaten the opponent every time”.

“The fact he hasn’t played 90 minutes for a while – since his injury – but is still in the way he went about every single action is impressive.”

Even his teammate, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang took to Twitter to praise Martinelli, while Ian Wright referenced his movement, sharpness and ability in the box.

An 80-yard magical run ended in style!

It was a mind-blowing goal, which redefined greatness. The forecast of an upcoming talent, which looks bright for Gunners and Brazil. For a long time, Brazil are searching for such a center-forward, who could be versatile in creating opportunities and scoring goals – most importantly, gifting moments of individual brilliance, which Brazil are in ned right now. 

Note: This article has been posted at Cricketsoccer as CSdesk on 22/01/2020 Gabriel Martinelli is making his presence felt in Premier League

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Faisal Caesar