Ian Wright Criticizes Arsenal for Martinelli Treatment
Ian Wright has launched a fierce defence of Gabriel Martinelli, accusing Arsenal of mishandling the Brazilian as the club prepare to cash in on one of their most marketable players.
Martinelli played 53 times in all competitions last season, scored 11 goals and helped Arsenal over the line to a Premier League title. Four years of graft under Mikel Arteta, a fixture in the dressing room, a fan favourite.
Now he cannot even get on the teamsheet.
From title winner to watching on
The 25-year-old was left out of the squad completely for Arsenal’s opening league game of the season, a 3-0 win over Coventry on Friday. He did not even make the bench.
That followed his omission from the Community Shield squad against Manchester City, another game Arsenal won without him. Behind the scenes, the club have invited offers for the winger.
For Wright, it does not sit right.
“The way Martinelli is being treated at the moment, it really makes me feel uncomfortable,” the former Arsenal striker told Sky Sports.
“I know they might want him out, and a lot of people might say, ‘yeah, it’s time for him to move him on’. But there’s ways of doing that and it should suit him as well, how he wants to leave.
“Not being involved in the squad, not being spoken to, he doesn’t know what’s going on. And yes, I know this – he doesn’t know what is happening.
“He’s done enough with this squad to be treated with a little bit more respect than he’s being treated with at the moment.”
A trusted lieutenant pushed to the margins
Martinelli arrived from Ituano in 2019 as a raw talent from Brazil and grew alongside Arteta’s project. He became a symbol of the new Arsenal: aggressive, direct, relentless without the ball.
Now, as the club look to consolidate their title win and push again, he is in danger of becoming one of the first big-name casualties of the next phase.
Inside the club, the message is different. Arsenal deny that Martinelli is being frozen out and point instead to the depth Arteta now has at his disposal. New signing Christos Tzolis impressed on the left wing against Coventry, in the very role Martinelli has made his own.
Arsenal also tried to go even bigger in that area of the pitch. They made a move for Vinicius Jr before the Brazil star chose to sign a new contract with Real Madrid.
Wright believes those moves send a clear signal to any player in Martinelli’s position.
“If you bring Vini in, Martinelli can say to himself, ‘OK, they’ve brought him in, they’ve brought Tzolis in, I might be third [in the pecking order],’” Wright said.
“But if you bring Tzolis in and have [Noni] Madueke on the other side, you’re thinking to yourself, ‘I can still have it with these two, I’ve got something to offer’.
“For him to be nowhere near it, it just makes me feel a bit sad for him.”
Arsenal’s ‘sellable asset’ dilemma
The reality is cold. Arsenal want at least one significant sale before the transfer window shuts, and internally Martinelli is viewed as one of their prime assets, alongside Gabriel Jesus and Fabio Vieira.
He has already rejected a move to Galatasaray, signalling he sees his future at the top end of European football if he leaves the Emirates Stadium.
Arteta, speaking before the Coventry game, did not name Martinelli but did not hide from the harsh truths of a squad evolving at the top level.
“It’s a really tough moment, but you need to face that reality,” he said when asked about the possibility of established players departing.
“You need to face it with real honesty and transparency because when you are on the other side, that’s exactly what you need.
“You might not like what you’ve been told, but if it’s truthful, if it’s the reality, if it’s honest and it’s going to help you to make better decisions and have more clarity for the next steps in your career, you have to do that.
“Everything has a start and has an end. And when it comes to the end, our duty, and our responsibility is to do it in the best possible way, maintaining the respect and admiration for the player and the relationship, but understanding that at the end, we need to make football decisions.”
Arteta insists respect will be maintained. Wright is not convinced that is happening.
Between those two positions sits Martinelli, a title-winning winger now reduced to watching from home, waiting for clarity as the window ticks down and the next chapter of Arsenal’s era threatens to leave him behind.
