After nearly three weeks away Arsenal are set to return to action when they travel to Molineux to take on Wolves in the Premier League.
One of the most exciting things about the game is seeing what Mikel Arteta plans to do in the striking positions after a January that promised so much, but ultimately delivered so little.
The Gunners were linked with Dusan Vlahovic, Alexander Isak and Jonathan David to name but a few as they looked for a long-term solution to their number nine conundrum, but instead by February 1st all they were left with was Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah after Flo Balogun's loan to Middlesbrough and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's free transfer to Barcelona.
There is, however, one more card that Arteta has left up his sleeve.
Gabriel Martinelli has been used largely on the wings since he broke back into the Arsenal side at the start of December, starting on the right wing for the 3-2 defeat to Manchester United before finding his home on the left with form so impressive that he was able to keep the free-scoring Emile Smith Rowe out of the first XI.
The Brazilian though is capable of playing as a centre forward and could be an option for Arteta as he seeks to guide the Gunners back into the Champions League for the first time in half a decade.
The Spaniard has previously stated that he views Martinelli as a centre forward, but up until this point he has generally been reluctant to use him in that position.
So why is this?
Well the most obvious answer is the numbers Arsenal have had in that position. Aubameyang, Lacazette, Nketiah and Balogun have all been ahead of the 20-year-old when it comes to the pecking order up front.
However, tactical reasons have also played their part.
When it comes to the No.9 role, Arteta has shown himself to be more partial to a striker who drops deep to link and facilitate the play of the team, rather than simply having a penalty box poacher to finish off chances.
"As a centre forward I try to be involved more in the game because the coach is expecting from our number nine to give some solutions to play during the game," said Aubameyang when describing his former manager's demands for those in the centre of his attack during a press conference last year.
This is generally why the team has looked better when Lacazette has been chosen in the position.
Take this example from the Gunners impressive win over fellow top four contenders West Ham in December.
Lacazette drops deep to receive the ball of Gabriel, dragging Craig Dawson out of the Hammers' central defence with him.
The Frenchman then turns and plays a ball through to Martinelli himself who runs into the space vacated by Dawson, and goes on to finish past Lukasz Fabianski.
While Lacazette has this knack of dropping deep to help create fantastic opportunities for his teammates, what he often lacks is the mobility and composure in front of goal to get forward and get on the end of cutbacks and convert them.
This was painfully obvious during the 0-0 draw with Burnley in Arsenal's last Premier League match in which the 30-year-old spurned the best chance of the game due to the fact that he was on the stretch when looking to tap home Smith Rowe's cut back.
Martinelli has no such issues in front of goal. Despite being just 20-years-of-age the Brazilian already has killer's touch in the penalty box to convert opportunities, and their can be little questioning of his desire given the heart on the sleeve manner in which he plays the game.
What has been lacking from his game though is a bit of composure to select the right passing opportunities when he tries to link play. This is perhaps the main reason why Arteta has generally neglected to play him up front.
An example of this was on display during a rare sighting of Martinelli in the No.9 position in last season's 3-1 win over West Brom at the Emirates Stadium.
In the picture below he drops deep to receive the ball from Mohamed Elneny, luring Semi Ajayi forward in a similar manner to what we saw from Lacazette against West Ham.
However, instead of taking time to control the ball and turn before playing it to his erstwhile teammate Willian who is running beyond him, the 20-year-old tries to flick the ball immediately to his compatriot. The former Chelsea man isn't ready to receive the pass yet and Arsenal end up losing possession and spurning a potential goalscoring opportunity.
Back then though, Arteta revealed he was not too concerned about the rawness Martinelli showed in the final third. Instead the Spaniard backed his young forward to eventually find coolness to make correct decisions upon completing the stages of his development correctly.
“I’m asking you to be patient because we have a lot of players at 19 and 20 years old,” he said.
“When you compare that with a lot of Premier League clubs at the top end it’s not common. Gabi’s having the right path, the right development, he’s got an incredible attitude and talent and has got all the future in front of him.
“What we have to do is to manage that, try to give him the right amount of minutes, the right games for him to develop to continue to get better.”
As Arsenal approach the business end of their Premier League campaign, Arteta appears to be more convinced that the young Brazilian has found the composure he predicted would eventually arrive in his game.
"His overall understanding of the game is getting much better," the Spaniard said after the aforementioned win over West Ham.
“He’s able to put some gears into his play. Sometimes he’s still doing everything at 100 miles per hour but the energy and quality he shows at times is top.”
Since that time Martinelli has gone on to score two more goals during his most extended run in the first team under Arteta. This is as many goals as Arsenal's more orthodox number options - Lacazette and Nketiah - have managed between them in open play in the whole season.
With every point now crucial in the Gunners' remaining 17 games of the season, the fact that Arteta's prediction about his Brazilian wonderkid appears to be coming true could well be the difference between whether Arsenal finish in top four or not.
