THE JOY FROM BRAZIL
At just 18 Martinelli has the talent and dedication to be a Gunners superstar predicts Bellerin
HECTOR BELLERIN believes Arsenal have a budding superstar on their hands in Gabriel Martinelli.
And the Gunners defender says it is not the goals that make the 18-year-old a potential great – but his dedication.
Martinelli became the first teenager to reach double figures for Arsenal since Nicolas Anelka when he scored in Tuesday’s 2-2 comeback draw at Chelsea.
Bellerin then hit the late equaliser that rescued a point for Mikel Arteta’s newly resilient band of brothers after David Luiz had been sent off early.
Bellerin picked out Martinelli as the jewel in the crown after the boy from Brazil ran half the length of the pitch to score.
“There are not many 18-yearolds with the talent he has,” said Bellerin. “A lot of people talk about his talent but what people don’t see is Gabi the professional.
“He turns up early every day. He does all the stuff anyone asks him to do. He is the first player to press and the last to leave the pitch.
“The goals are just a plus. He helps us in every single way, and the thing that everyone needs to praise him for is his attitude.That’s what makes him a player. I know Gabi is really young in his career – so many things can happen.
“But if he keeps his head where it is now he is going to go really far.”
Martinelli, a £6million bargain buy in the summer, was kicking around Brazil’s regional leagues with Ituano FC this time last year.
It surely will not be long until he earns his first Brazil cap, having trained with the senior squad.
Between 2015 and 2017 he spent two weeks at Manchester United – but it was not until technical director Edu convinced Arsenal to go for him that he got his chance.
Martinelli has grabbed it with both hands. On his first day at the club he confessed to feeling shy around players he had seen only on TV or in video games.
But the teenager does not lack for confidence, saying when he signed that he modelled his game on Cristiano Ronaldo.
In the draw at Stamford Bridge he also had twice as many sprints as anyone on the pitch.
Arteta said: “To play in that stadium the way he has done, with 10 men and against Cesar Azpilicueta – one of the best defenders in the Premier League – you need courage.
“I wanted to take him off a few times because he looked shattered and he was cramping, but the next minute he is sprinting 60 yards again.”