Gabriel Martinelli has proved a number of people wrong with his sensational form for Arsenal this season and has even made it into Gary Neville's team of the season.
The young Brazilian has enjoyed a campaign of significant development and established himself as one of the most promising young talents in European football. While Martinelli is now viewed as one of Arsenal's best players, he hasn't always been so highly rated by everyone and was actually the subject of ridicule not too long ago.
After being named as a surprise inclusion in the Brazil squad for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the 22-year-old was the target of a furious rant from former Selecao international Neto, who dubbed the decision to bring the Arsenal ace along as a "joke".
Martinelli was named in the squad ahead of Flamengo striker Gabriel Barbosa, which did not go down well with Neto, who made his feelings on the matter crystal clear.
Speaking to Os Donos da Bola, he said: “This is a shame, a joke! I feel ashamed! Not because of Dani Alves' story. What is Martinelli's story? 33 career goals. This is a shame, a lack of respect for football. Doing this with football shows that you don't deserve the position you are in.
“Calling up Martinelli and not calling up Gabigol is a lack of respect. The biggest shame of all the call-ups. Calling up Martinelli shows that you, Tite, shouldn't hold the position you do, because you're not fair to Gabigol.
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“The guy [Martinelli] who scores five goals in the season, who walks around the mall here, nobody knows who he is… And not taking Gabigol, the guy who scored the goal of the Libertadores title, who scored 29 goals in the season.
“What has Martinelli done in European football? Arsenal are not even in the Champions League. This is a calamity!”
Well, Martinelli let his football do the talking and what a response it has been.
The young wide-forward ends the season with 15 goals and five assists, as he'll be unable to add to his tally during Arsenal's final game of the season at home to Wolves due to injury.
Since his return from Qatar, Martinelli has been a revelation for the Gunners and as a result, Neville named the Brazilian ahead of Marcus Rashford in his best eleven from this season.
This decision sparked a backlash from some particularly annoyed United fans online, who demanded Neville explain his reasoning.
He duly obliged, replying: "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 impaction."
