Ian Wright blasts Arsenal and Mikel Arteta over their treatment of Gabriel Martinelli – after star was excluded from squad for their win over Coventry
Arsenal legend Ian Wright has hit out at the club for disrespecting Gabriel Martinelli amid his looming exit from the club.
The winger was left out of Mikel Arteta’s squad for their 3-0 victory over Frank Lampard’s Coventry City on the opening night of the Premier League season.
He is one of three stars alongside Ethan Nwaneri and Gabriel Jesus whose days with the Gunners look numbered after last season’s title success.
Arteta has insisted the trio are ‘important’ to him but Martinelli has been marginalised since the £34million signing of Christos Tzolis from Club Brugge.
But given the exit of Leandro Trossard to Besiktas, it is confusing why Martinelli is not competing for the starting spot. The 25-year-old contributed 11 goals and seven assists across all competitions last season and has been a regular since joining in 2019.
Wright told Sky Sports on Friday night: ‘In respects to Martinelli and the way Martinelli has been treated at the moment it really makes me feel uncomfortable.
Gabriel Martinelli should be given a chance to compete to start at Arsenal, says Ian Wright
He is ‘uncomfortable’ with the way the Gunners are handling Martinelli’s looming exit
‘Because he always gives 100 per cent, I’m not saying he’s the greatest, he’s really come up with some big moments for Arsenal, some big games, he’s scored some very important goals.
‘The way he’s been treated at the end here, I know they might want him out, and there’s a lot of people saying, “yeah, maybe it’s time for him to move on,” but there’s ways of doing that and it should suit him as well, how he wants to leave.
‘Not being in the squad, not being spoken to, doesn’t know what’s going on, yes, I do know this, again, not being involved in the Community Shield squad, he doesn’t know what’s happening, I think he’s got a year left [on his contract].
‘If you bring Vini [Vinicius Junior] in, that kind of level in, Martinelli can say to himself, “well, okay, they’ve brought him and Tzolis, I might be third [choice],” but if you’re bringing Tzolis in, and he’s looking at Tzolis, you look at [Noni] Madueke on the other [wing], you’re thinking to yourself, “I think I can still have it with these two, I still think I’ve got something to offer here.”
‘For him to be nowhere near it, it makes me feel sad for him.
‘I’m just saying I think he’s done enough with this team, with this squad, to be treated with a little bit more respect than he’s being treated at the moment.’
Arsenal started their title defence in dominant fashion as Kai Havertz, Bukayo Saka, and Martin Odegaard all scored to put newly promoted Coventry to the sword.
They value Martinelli around £50m but he is only willing to listen to offers from the strongest leagues.
Martinelli has been a regular with Arsenal since 2019 but they have signd Christos Tzolis
It is understandable from his perspective given that he won the Premier League and reached the final of the Champions League with the Gunners last season.
Galatasaray made a £38m offer but he does not want to move to Turkey. Roma have also shown an interest.
Martinelli has been an ever-present at the Emirates over recent years after joining from Brazilian side Ituano as an 18-year-old in 2019.
Now 25, the forward has played 278 times for the club, scoring 62 goals, including 11 strikes in 53 appearances last season.
However, Martinelli struck just once in the Premier League, and of his 30 top flight appearances, only 11 were starts, with Mikel Arteta often preferring to use Eberechi Eze and Leandro Trossard on the left.
His most productive campaign was 15 league goals in 2022-23. But his time appears to be drawing to a close – he was also left out of their Community Shield final squad.
Speaking recently on what we can expect from Arsenal over the rest of the transfer window, Arteta said: ‘There is more that we want to do.
‘Because every time we have an opportunity to improve the squad and bring more quality and depth, we need to do that.
‘We’re actively trying to do so – the thing is, in the market, it doesn’t just depend on you, and we’re very clear on that.
‘The will and the desire of the club is unquestionable, but we cannot promise that we’re going to do it because it doesn’t only depend on us.’
He added: ‘For the margins to improve, there are very few players in the market that are available to do that and bring more quality to the club. But again, we’re actively looking to improve that and we’re going to try.’