Arsenal winger Gabriel Martinelli has already left his mark on new teammate and fellow Brazilian Gabriel Jesus.
The Gunners bolstered their attacking options by signing Jesus from Manchester City after Mikel Arteta pushed to sign a new No 9 following several notable departures. The Spanish coach inherited a young Martinelli when he took over from Unai Emery back in 2019 and the 21-year-old has developed at an eye-catching rate.
He's been able to establish himself in the first-team picture, playing out wide as well as through the middle. Jesus has been hugely impressed with his engine, labelling him "an animal", with his conditioning levels allowing him to stand out.
During an interview on Podpah podcast, Jesus said: "Woah! Martinelli – he’s an animal. An animal! He never gets tired!" The 25-year-old went on to say: "[My new teammates] at the club are so hungry, they’re desperate to get this club back to winning a Premier League after 20 years. This kind of challenge excites me a lot to be here."
Martinelli scored 11 times last term, starting in 26 of his 36 outings. He will now be complemented in the frontline by Jesus, who was not always a starter at City but consistently came up with big goals and will bring a wealth of experience.
He recently claimed his fourth league title but the arrival of Erling Haaland was always going to further limit his minutes, so he choose to reunite with Arteta, who had been Guardiola's No 2 at the Etihad. Jesus cited the desire to play week in, week out as a huge factor in his decision.
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The Brazilian said: "I wanted a new challenge. I want to play every game, that’s why I came here. I compare this Arsenal team with the City team when I arrived there. There’s a lot of young players. Everybody at the club has received me so well. I’m two or three years older than most players here but they look at me as a very experienced player. I like that. I like to be a role model for other players."
He continued: "I’m a person that thinks a lot. I’ve been thinking about [leaving City] for one or two years. The best decision that I could have made is to be here at Arsenal. I needed to play football with a smile on my face again. My mother watched our game [against Orlando City] and called me to say, 'I can see you’re different, you’re playing happy!' I got emotional hearing that."
