Gabriel Martinelli has enjoyed a scintillating start to the season with Arsenal. The Brazilian has impressed alongside the likes of Gabriel Jesus and Bukayo Saka in an attack that has scored 17 goals in seven league games so far this season.
The 21-year-old is already a third of the way to equalling last season's minutes played total in the Premier League. He has had to bide his time since joining the Gunners in 2019, but he is now one of the first names on the team sheet in Mikel Arteta's side.
Martinelli has scored three goals in seven appearances, and there is another stat that highlights his elite attacking talent.
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According to a graph from The Analyst, no player in the Premier League has been involved in more open play attacking sequences than Martinelli. The forward has been involved in 46 attacking sequences, the same number as Manchester City midfielder Kevin De Bruyne.
Martinelli has had 19 shots from open play, created 15 chances and has been involved in the build-up to 12 shots on goal. It means he is involved in an open play attacking sequence every 13.1 minutes on average.
The Brazilian already has many admirers in the footballing world, including Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp. The German has previously lauded Martinelli, calling him the "talent of the century".
After an incredible 5-5 Carabao Cup draw in 2019, Klopp said of Martinelli: "Martinelli’s pretty much the same age [as Liverpool defender Sepp Van De Berg] but he’s a talent of the century, he’s an incredible striker, so it’s really difficult. It was not in this game only. I watch a lot of football, so I saw the Europa League games of Arsenal.
"He’s 18 years old, right? So our scouting department is all over the world and stuff like this, but I think Edu gets all the credit for that signing – he came from… wherever. He’s really unbelievable. So young, looks so mature already, is a proper threat. Yeah, he looks like a really decent player. I didn’t want to put any backpack [pressure] on his back with this thing [his earlier remarks] but I just really like good football players and obviously he’s a very good one."
While Martinelli has started the season incredibly well, so have several other Arsenal players. In fact, four Gunners players are included in the aforementioned graph from The Analyst. Saka has been involved in 40 attacking sequences, while Jesus and Martin Odegaard have been involved in 39 and 37 respectively. The Gunners' domination of the graph emphasis how Mikel Arteta has got his attacking players clicking.
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