Morning all.
Arsenal news is in short supply this morning. There’s a very spurious Gabriel Martinelli mention in one of the Spanish papers, linking him with Barcelona, but I wouldn’t pay much attention to that at this stage. There are a handful of players who I would say that Arsenal 100% don’t want to let go, and I wouldn’t necessarily put him in that bracket, but with all the financial problems Barcelona have and the hassles with registering players because of their wage bill, I suspect this is not something to worry about at all.
If Martinelli’s departure is a thing that would worry you, of course. For some, he’s player who hasn’t quite delivered what we expected from him based on how he burst onto the scene. After a 15 goal campaign (and 7 assists) in our first title challenging season (22-23), his 23-24 was a bit disappointing with 8 goals (6 PL, 2 CL) and 5 assists. The season just gone, it was a bit better with 10 goals (8 PL, 2 CL), and 6 assists.
Lewis has a good look at his numbers in his latest newsletter, and personally I think Martinelli is quite low down the list of problems we need to worry too much about. Which isn’t to say I don’t think we should leave the left-hand side as is, I strongly think that’s an area where we should look to improve. Or at least change something to give us a bit more variety, but as Lewis says in his piece, the options to do that aren’t necessarily obvious.
The desire to bring someone in on the left is one I think that’s pretty widely shared by Arsenal fans, but it’s an interesting topic to think about. If we’re going to extend Leandro Trossard’s deal, most likely to fend off interest from elsewhere, and we’re keeping Martinelli – does that mean there’s no room for a signing? Or does it mean that we’re going to be over-stocked with too many players competing for one position? You could argue that too much would be better than too little after the season we’ve just had, and Martinelli and Trossard can play in other positions across the front three, but it’s worth considering.
It has already been reported this summer that while Arsenal don’t want Martinelli or Trossard to go, they’d listen to offers for either if they arrived. Which tells us little about who they’d choose to retain if it was a one or the other situation, but if it was that binary, surely Martinelli is the one you go for. Trossard isn’t getting any younger, and the Brazilian is the one player in this team with real pace – something that’s an issue for this Arsenal team.
I get the concerns about his output, and I do worry a bit that he plays with his head down a bit too much and doesn’t see the opportunities he has to make a telling pass. See the moment from the Crystal Palace game which illustrates that. I know the game is played at high pace, but those are the moments that separate good players from very good players at the highest level. Roll it across to Saka for a tap-in, 3 points instead of 1 point (albeit at that stage in the season it didn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things).
But, he is still only 23, he turns 24 in June but until then etc etc. It’s not uncommon for a young player to plateau for a bit and then make progress again. I think we’ve squeezed the most we possibly can out of Trossard, but there’s potentially more to come from Martinelli. For example, I really like the goal he scored against Liverpool a few weeks ago. Not just the execution of what was a tricky enough header, but the movement to creep between the two centre-halves was really good.
Perhaps a readjustment in expectations might help though. I think we’ve got a very decent player on our hands, but one who isn’t going to develop into the kind of superstar he looked like he might become. I could be wrong, and I’ll eat all the humble pie in the world if that is the case, but I don’t think there’s any need to throw the baby out with the bathwater either. If we’re here in 12 months time chatting about another somewhat underwhelming season from him, then I think there’s a discussion to be had about his future because there’s a greater body of evidence, so to speak.
So unless there’s a need to balance the books to bring in a far superior option – whoever that might be – I don’t think Martinelli will be going anywhere this summer. And if he goes mad with goals and assists next season, I’ll save some of you a slice of that pie. Let’s hope so.
Right, I’ll leave it there for this morning. The Champions League final takes place later on, of course, and today I am Andrea Mangane, Forza Inter!
