Arsenal are looking to sign a high-potential hidden gem in the same way they recruited Gabriel Martinelli back in the summer of 2019.
That is according to The Athletic's James McNicholas, who has claimed that Mikel Arteta's side are looking to find the next Martinelli during the summer transfer window. "I think there might be young players who we sign, we might sign a 19 or 20-year-old who Mikel Arteta thinks the world of who could come into the first-team squad straight away", McNicholas told the Arsecast podcast.
"I think they’re looking at a couple of South American talents as they did last summer with Marquinhos, I think there are another two or three players of interest to Edu and his team that could be the new Martinelli potentially. One of those guys who gets a chance in pre-season and goes on and does well.”
Martinelli joined from Itauno, who were plying their trade in the fourth division of Brazilian football when the Gunners signed the then-17-year-old. Fast forward four years and the talented forward has been a resounding success under Arteta's tutelage.
Martinelli enjoyed a stellar 2022/23 campaign, netting 15 times in the Premier League - the joint-most in the Arsenal squad. That kind of form saw him named in a number of pundit's team of the season, including Manchester United legend Gary Neville.
When asked on Twitter why he included Martinelli over United star Marcus Rashford, Neville replied by saying: "Rashford and Martinelli have almost identical stats. It just came down to the football and combinations I’ve seen from Martinelli and Arsenal's season with his impact on it."
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Of course, it will be extremely difficult for the north Londoners to find a similar talent to the Brazilian international, who was signed for just £6 million. Gunners sporting director Edu has spoken about bringing in players that fit Arteta's play style when recruiting in the transfer market.
Speaking to ESPN Brazil last month, he said: "It’s identifying very well where we can improve. If they are individual, isolated positions, if they are units, if they are ‘final third’, as we call it here, if they are midfield, defensive part. This diagnosis we already have because we already have a very clear style of play by Arteta.
“Today, you see Arsenal playing and identify with it, you know that is Arsenal’s style. So now it’s time to understand where we can boost the units so that the team can improve and go to another level of performance.
"And I think there is another level, we have one more level. With me and Arteta talking, we find it, we believe that we have a level to improve in terms of performance.
"And now make a good transfer window, understand the need, to get right the athlete, the characteristics, the mentality of the athlete that we want, to once again raise the level of our squad.”
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