Arsenal striker Gabriel Jesus (Picture: Getty)
Arsenal striker Gabriel Jesus believes that fellow Brazilian Gabriel Martinelli is the ‘best player’ currently in the Gunners’ squad.
Both players have struggled for regular minutes this season under Mikel Arteta, despite Arsenal going deep in all four club competitions.
Jesus worked his way back from a serious knee injury, which kept him sidelined for several months, but has largely still found himself below Viktor Gyokeres and Kai Havertz in the pecking order.
Martinelli, meanwhile, has made 25 Premier League appearances this campaign, but the winger has started just nine matches due to the form of Leandro Trossard.
The 24-year-old has scored six goals in nine Champions League matches this campaign, and Jesus believes that Martinelli’s raw capabilities are beyond those of any of their Arsenal teammates.
When asked who the best player on the Arsenal team is, Jesus told Romario TV:’There are a few, but I think I’ll go with Martinelli. I first saw him, funny enough, during the 2019 Copa America preparation.
‘I think it was 2019, the national team always calls up young players from the youth teams to come and train with us, right? There was a good young left winger. I said, ‘Wow, what a good kid’.
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Gabriel Jesus raved about Gabriel Martinelli’s talents (Picture: Getty)
‘Then at the start of the [first] season here, I saw Martinelli at Arsenal, and I said, ‘Wow, I’ve seen this kid before’, and it was him. So, it was him.
‘I’ve seen him play for Itauno since he was young.
‘Some of the things he does in daily routine, in training, are different. Because normally in the game, it’s about what really decides this, but what you really want to see in a player is in training. The details, the little things.’
Martinelli has struggled for starts under Mikel Arteta this season (Picture: Getty)
Despite those capabilities, Martinelli appears to face an uncertain future at the Emirates beyond this season as the Gunners plot their latest rebuild.
The left side of attack has been namechecked as an area where Arsenal are keen to upgrade, with reports linking the club with an audacious move for Paris Saint-Germain forward Khvicha Kvaratskhelia.
And speaking recently, Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard agreed that Martinelli is one of the players who Arsenal could seek to upgrade on.
‘I think Arsenal will potentially go for a player on the left,’ Gerrard told TNT Sports.
‘I don’t think Gabriel Martinelli has been as good as he was previously maybe and Leandro Trossard is a good player but that is an area they might look at in terms of how to get the team and squad better.’
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