Arsenal manager Arteta rules out January move for Martinelli

Posted Friday, October 15, 2021 by Tribalfootball.com

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta says Gabriel Martinelli will not be leaving the club in January.

The 20-year-old has made just four appearances across all competitions this season.

It is nothing personal, according to Arteta, who says the Brazilian has to compete with a number of players for game time.

The Spaniard told reporters: "Because of the amount of players that we have in those positions, first of all.

"He had some games that he played, he started against Brentford and he started against Chelsea as well.

"Unfortunately he got injured last week, it is a minor injury but we don't know if he is going to be available for Monday but we have a lot of trust with Gabby and we need to find the right space for him to grow within the squad.

"If you look at the number of games that he's played obviously the injuries that he suffered have been big setbacks on that with him.

"We sometimes forget his age, what he's done and where he is and we need to try to help him as well to maintain that balance because you can generate frustration that comes out of, in my opinion, an unrealistic diagnosis and you need time to do that."

But when asked if loan approaches would be listened to, Arteta said: "No, I'm very happy with him and we aren't thinking about anything like that."