Gabriel Teodoro Martinelli Silva (born 18 June 2001), known as Gabriel Martinelli (Brazilian Portuguese: ), is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Premier League club Arsenal.
Born and raised in Guarulhos, Martinelli initially featured as a futsal player for Corinthians, before beginning his football career with Ituano in 2015. After featuring and scoring for Ituano in the Copa Paulista and Campeonato Paulista, Martinelli signed for English club Arsenal in 2019.
At the international level, Martinelli represents the Brazil under-23s, but is eligible to play for Italy through his father.
Club career
Ituano
Born in Guarulhos, São Paulo, Martinelli started his career in 2010, playing for Corinthians’ futsal team. After making the breakthrough in football fields, he moved to Ituano in 2015, having subsequent trials at Manchester United and Barcelona.
On 4 November 2017, Martinelli signed his first professional contract until October 2022. He made his professional debut the following 17 March, coming on as a late substitute for goalscorer Claudinho in a 2–1 Campeonato Paulista away win against São Bento; at the age of 16 years and nine months, he became the youngest player to debut for the club in the century.
Martinelli scored his first senior goal on 8 September 2018, netting the second in a 4–1 win over Taboão da Serra, for the year’s Copa Paulista. Definitively promoted to the first team for the 2019 Campeonato Paulista, he scored six goals during the competition, being the club’s top goalscorer as they reached the quarterfinals; highlights included a brace in a 3–0 away win against Bragantino on 15 March.
Arsenal
Martinelli was reportedly subject to interest from a number of clubs, but signed a long term contract with Premier League club Arsenal on 2 July 2019. As he holds an Italian passport, he was able to play immediately as he does not require a visa or work permit. He scored a goal on his non-competitive debut, in a 3–0 pre-season victory against the Colorado Rapids.
2019–20: Debut season
—Arsenal’s then-interim head coach Freddie Ljungberg on Martinelli’s Premier League debut.
Martinelli made his Premier League debut on 11 August 2019 in a 1–0 win against Newcastle United, coming on in the 84th minute as a substitute for Henrikh Mkhitaryan.
On 24 September, Martinelli scored a brace on his first competitive start for the club in a 5–0 victory over Championship side Nottingham Forest in the EFL Cup. Martinelli opened and closed the scoring, first with a near-post header, and secondly with a long-range effort. Both were assisted by Calum Chambers. His performance received praise from head coach Unai Emery, who said: “He’s hungry to have that opportunity to help us, he is very humble, he fights. I told him to have some patience for his opportunity to do like he was doing. He did that. He deserved it”.
Martinelli made his second start for Arsenal in a 4–0 home win over Standard Liège in the UEFA Europa League, in which he scored another brace. His first goal came in the thirteenth minute following a cross from fellow summer signing Kieran Tierney. He added his second three minutes later by cutting in on his right foot in the penalty area and scoring into the far corner. Martinelli also created his first assist of the season by setting up Arsenal’s fourth goal, scored by Dani Ceballos. Martinelli kept up his goal scoring form, netting the equalizer in a 3–2 home win over Vitória Guimarães, with yet another header.
In the League Cup fourth round, Martinelli registered yet another brace in a 5–5 draw with Liverpool. Martinelli also scored his penalty in the penalty shootout, which Arsenal eventually lost. As a result, Martinelli became the highest-scoring teenager for a top-five European league club, netting seven goals in seven appearances in all competitions. He also became the first player to score four times in his first four starts since Ian Wright. Martinelli’s performance received praise from Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp, who labelled him ” talent of the century”.
—Arsenal’s head coach Mikel Arteta on Martinelli’s performances.
Martinelli’s performances led to him being awarded the Arsenal ‘Player of the Month’ award for October, receiving 75% of the total votes cast, beating out Mattéo Guendouzi and fellow summer-signing Nicolas Pépé. After the appointment of interim head coach Freddie Ljungberg, Martinelli started his first Premier League game and scored Arsenal’s equaliser in an eventual 1–3 win over West Ham United. He scored his second league goal, and first after the appointment of permanent head coach Mikel Arteta, in a 1–1 draw with Sheffield United on 11 January.
In the following game, Martinelli scored in a 2–2 away draw at Chelsea; his goal involved a 67-yard direct sprint across the field to net Arsenal’s first equaliser. The goal made Martinelli the first teenager to reach double figures in a single season for Arsenal since Nicolas Anelka. The goal was later voted as Arsenal’s Goal of the Season by the club’s fans. On 3 July, Martinelli signed a new contract with the club, thought to be a be a four-year deal, with a team option for an extra year. Shortly after, Martinelli was ruled out until the end of 2020, after undergoing surgery to repair a lesion in the cartilage of his knee following an injury in training on June 21.
2020–21: Second season
Martinelli made his competitive return from injury on 19 December 2020, coming off the bench to play 19 minutes in a 2–1 away defeat to Everton. He started his first game back from injury on 22 December, assisting Alexandre Lacazette’s equalizer in an eventual 4–1 home defeat to Manchester City in the EFL Cup. During the warmup against Newcastle United in the FA Cup on 9 January 2021, Martinelli sustained an ankle injury and was replaced in the lineup by Reiss Nelson.
International career
Martinelli was born in Brazil, and is of Italian descent through his father; he holds dual Brazilian-Italian citizenship. On 20 May 2019, Martinelli was called up by Brazil national team manager Tite to complete preparatory training for the 2019 Copa América. In November 2019, Martinelli appeared for Brazil’s under-23 side at the United International Football Festival in Spain.
Career statistics
- As of match played 18 February 2021.
| Club | Season | League | State League | National Cup | League Cup | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Ituano | 2018 | Paulista | — | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | 17 | 4 | 20 | 4 | ||||
| 2019 | Série D | 0 | 0 | 14 | 6 | — | — | — | — | 14 | 6 | |||||
| Total | 0 | 0 | 17 | 6 | — | — | — | 17 | 4 | 34 | 10 | |||||
| Arsenal | 2019–20 | Premier League | 14 | 3 | — | 3 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 3 | — | 26 | 10 | ||
| 2020–21 | 5 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 8 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 19 | 3 | — | 3 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 34 | 10 | |||
| Arsenal U21 | 2020–21 | — | — | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||||||
| Career total | 19 | 3 | 17 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 7 | 3 | 18 | 4 | 68 | 20 | ||
- ^ Includes Campeonato Paulista
- ^ Includes FA Cup
- ^ Includes EFL Cup
- ^ Appearance(s) in Copa Paulista
- ^ Jump up to:a b Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa League
- ^ Appearance(s) in EFL Trophy
Honours
Arsenal
- FA Cup: 2019–20
Individual
- Campeonato Paulista Best Newcomer: 2019
- Campeonato Paulista Countryside Player of the Year: 2019
- Campeonato Paulista Team of the Year: 2019