Euro giants gunning for angel Gabriel, but Arteta says he’s going nowhere
ARSENAL are hopeful that they can keep wonderkid Gabriel Martinelli from the clutches of Europe’s heavyweights. The 18-year-old was only drafted into the Emirates from Brazilian outfit Ituano during the summer. But he has made such an impression that Real Madrid and Paris Saint-germain are among the top clubs already circling. Martinelli has stunned coaches with his potential and they see the versatile forward as a future superstar. Since making his debut, Martinelli has scored 10 goals in 22 games. Arsenal manager Mikael Arteta believes they can keep their rising star happy, but there is growing concern that another season without Champions League football could make it difficult to hang on to prized assets like Martinelli, and Barcelona also retain a longrunning interest in Pierreemerick Aubameyang. But Arteta (left) is pleased his masterplan for the new Arsenal is starting to take shape. Since he took over from Unai Emery in December, Arteta’s Gunners have lost just once in 11 games, winning five times and keeping four clean sheets. They are finally winning away from home too, with two victories from their last three games on the road. That compares to only three during the calamitous last four months of Emery’s reign. The signs are promising for Arsenal fans, particularly after the Europa League knockout stage first-leg win over Greek champions Olympiakos on
Thursday. Arteta said: “Honestly, we feel as a staff that the players are willing and are behind us and want to follow us.
“You try and convince them about what we are trying to do and they are doing all they can to try to execute what we want. The energy we have together is good, so I am happy.
“We have a long way to go in this process, to develop a lot of things that I want to implement.
“We need time. I don’t want to accelerate the process and take them somewhere they cannot go, because it would not be productive.
“We have to maintain the things we do well and maybe then we will have little margins of improvement that we can aim to achieve.
“The attitude I want the players to play with is to confront the opponent. It does not matter where we play, we have to go there and we have to face them.
“We have to feel that we are ready to go, not just when we have the ball but when we don’t have it as well, with the same attitude and aggression.
“They are doing it. I can only praise them because they are trying hard – sometimes for better or worse – but they are very willing.”
Carlo Ancelotti, the man who wanted Arteta’s job, will be in the Everton dug-out this afternoon with a point to prove, but Arteta is more focused on enjoying the battle against one of his former clubs.
“I played there for seven years and still have some great memories, great friends and people that I love a lot,” he said.
“It was weird because, when I was appointed manager, I had to go to Goodison and Carlo was being appointed that day as well, I think.
“It was always special for me to play up there and I am really looking forward to this weekend’s match.
“We enjoyed a good win in the Europa League – but now we must focus on Everton.”