Arsenal forward Gabriel Martinelli has proved his worth to Mikel Arteta and shown his colleagues there is a path from the fringes to the first team.
The 20-year-old has impressed for the Gunners this season, scoring a career-high five Premier League goals and keeping top scorer Emile Smith Rowe out of the starting line-up in recent weeks. His performances have also earned the former Ituano man his first senior Brazil call-up, joining club teammate Gabriel Magalhaes in Tite's squad for the upcoming qualifiers against Chile and Bolivia.
Martinelli has impressed Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp and earned comparisons with former Arsenal star Robert Pires after causing problems for Reds right-back Trent Alexander-Arnold in Wednesday night's meeting. And a lot has changed since Arteta felt compelled to apologise to the starlet.
After breaking through in the 2019-20 season, scoring his first Premier League goal just a fortnight before Arteta's arrival, Martinelli missed the start of the following campaign through injury. However, after returning to the fold, he didn't find it easy to break back into the team, with Arteta taking the blame.
"If anything it's my fault," the Spaniard told the media in March 2021. "He has done everything perfect, he trains incredibly well every day, his attitude cannot be any better.
"He is disappointed he is not playing more, obviously, and I have spoken to him, but he needs to be a little bit patient. He had some minutes, he had some games as well and it's true the competition for the front positions is very tough but he needs to be patient and he will get his chance."
Which other Arsenal players could benefit from Martinelli's example? Have your say in the comments section
Martinelli's progress over the last 12 months come at a time when others have reacted differently to time spent outside the starting XI. Most notably, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang would end up leaving the Emirates Stadium for Barcelona in February, just two months after being dropped by Arteta.
Aubameyang started on the bench as Arsenal lost at Everton in December, playing the final few minutes, prompting suggestions from pundit Gary Neville that the situation could "turn sour". “I think there will be a problem with Aubameyang off the back of this game. I don't think he'll like Nketiah coming on [before him], I don't think he'll like being sub full stop,” Neville said.
That game ended up being the Gabon striker's last for Arsenal, and he was stripped of the club captaincy barely a week later following a disciplinary breach. He then moved to Camp Nou without a transfer fee after agreeing to end his Gunners spell by mutual consent.
Martinelli, on the other hand, has knuckled down and worked his way back into favour under Arteta and is now proving his worth. After a huge focus on changing the attitude in the Arsenal dressing room, Martinelli is a shining example to his teammates of how to turn things around after a spell out of the team.
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