Jurgen Klopp and Mikel Arteta were left hailing Gabriel Martinelli after the Brazilian stole the show in Arsenal ’s memorable victory over Liverpool at the weekend.
The Gunners continued their near-flawless start to the campaign against the stuttering Reds with a 3-2 win at the Emirates Stadium. Brazilian forward Martinelli gave the hosts the perfect start as he swept home the opener in less than a minute.
Following Roberto Firmino ’s equaliser, the Arsenal youngster then played a role in his side regaining the lead by teeing up Bukayo Saka. Gunners boss Arteta was full of praise for the performance of the 21-year-old and pointed to his impressive development over the last 12 months.
Speaking to Sky Sports after the clash with Liverpool, he said: “Obviously, when you see what he was when he started a year ago against Brentford, to what he is today.
“The development is just phenomenal. But it’s his hunger, his desire, how much he loves to play, to train, to get better every single day.
“It’s a nightmare to play against him,” Arteta continued. “The same with Bukayo and Gabi [Jesus] up front, we have a real threat up front, we know that, teams and players are respecting us on that.”
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Klopp can certainly not claim that he wasn’t aware of Martinelli’s abilities having regularly waxed lyrical about the young Brazilian.
Speaking in the past, the German has hailed the Arsenal starlet as the “talent of the century”, an “incredible striker” and “such a talented boy”. Those compliments continued ahead of Arsenal’s showdown with Liverpool on Sunday.
Klopp said: “[Arsenal have] a lot of talent…Martinelli, I was excited about him early, Odegaard, I spoke to him at 15 in Norway with his dad. Saka… ooof!
“And Gabriel Jesus, Mikel could see how good he could be not in a Man City shirt. Thomas Partey, everyone saw how good he was at Atletico Madrid. Lots of quality.”
Martinelli’s stunning performance against Klopp’s side sees him having now accumulated four goals and two assists in all competitions already this term. He only needs two more Premier League goals throughout the campaign to match his best record for the Gunners. There is some concern over his future though with just a year-and-a-half remaining on his current Emirates deal.
However, Martinelli has allayed fears over an exit by claiming that talks are already underway over an extended contract. He said: “I want to stay at Arsenal, of course. We are talking [about new deal] so let’s see what is going to happen, but I want to stay at Arsenal, of course.”
