Martinelli is shining and his performance is asking for an improved contract. Even Klopp praises him

In the transfer market nowadays, you pay not only for the quality of players, but also for their potential. So getting a young talented player for reasonable money who can become a difference maker for the Premier League in a few seasons seems like an almost impossible task. Arsenal seem to have succeeded in the summer of 2019.

That’s when they signed Gabriel Martinelli, a Brazilian offensive talent from Ituan, for just £6 million. Although the club’s original plan was for him to start in the youth teams, given his performances in training, he started the 2019/20 season with the A-team and managed to stay there.

He has gradually worked his way up from a bench joker to a starting line-up player and is already starting the current season as one of the Gunners’ main stars. And his performances confirm it.

After the win over Liverpool, there was a lot of talk about Sako scoring goals (including the winning one), but the young Brazilian deservedly stole the spotlight for himself.

It was he who, in the 1st minute, beat Alisson with a precise finish to steer his team to victory. In the 9th league game of this season, it was the 4th goal for him and it is only a matter of time before he surpasses his current goal total in the Premier League – 6 goals from last season.

At the end of the half, he was there for another Gunners goal when he accurately found Saku in the whitewash and notched his 2nd assist of the year. Proof that creativity is his strength apart from finishing can be seen in his 19 chances created from play – the most among Arsenal players and the third best performance in the league.

“He’s a great player. He gave a great performance against good defenders and a great team, he was a difference maker.”

He also received praise from the opposing camp. Jürgen Klopp has admired him for a long time. When Arsenal and Liverpool met in the Carabao Cup in October 2019, the Reds won after a fierce 6:5 penalty shootout, with Martinelli scoring two goals for the losers.

The German coach said at the time that he was the ‘talent of the century’. ” He has become exactly the player I expected him to be.”

The offensive trio of Martinelli, Jesus, Saka (with the added support of team captain Odegaard) is simply working at its best this season and the whole team is benefiting from it. Thanks to Martinelli’s great start to the season, there is already talk that he deserves a new contract.

The current one doesn’t expire until 2024 and the management reportedly has the option to extend it by a year, but given that Martinelli (along with Saka and Saliba, for example) is supposed to be the player Arteta will build the team around, it’s not surprising that the club will look to cement his position with a long-term contract with an improved salary.

According to some sources, negotiations between the club and the player have already begun.

Signing a new contract would certainly be great news for the club and its fans. Still only twenty-one years old, Martinelli has already played 95 games in a Gunners jersey, scoring 22 goals and 15 assists.

And he is currently playing in great form. In his last 14 Premier League games, he has contributed 10 goals (5 goals, 5 assists). And he’s obviously going to keep improving – if all goes to plan, he’ll be in an Arsenal jersey.

Martinelli will have another chance to show some of his ability on Sunday from 15:00 when Arsenal take on Leeds at Elland Road.

Source: The Athletic, Transfermarkt