Gabriel Teodoro Martinelli Silva (born 18 June 2001), known as Gabriel Martinelli, is a Brazilian professional
footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugb ...
who plays as a
forward for club
Arsenal
An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostl ...
and the
Brazil national team.
Born and raised in
Guarulhos
Guarulhos () is a Brazilian municipality. It is the second most populous city in the Brazilian state of São Paulo, the 13th most populous city in Brazil, and is also the most populous city in the country that is not a state capital. In the las ...
, Martinelli began his senior club career playing for
Ituano and signed for Arsenal in July 2019, aged 18. He won the
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football compet ...
in his debut season.
At international level, Martinelli represents the
Brazil under-23s. He helped Brazil win an Olympic Gold in
men's football at the
2020 Summer Olympics
The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July.
Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...
. He made his senior debut in 2022, and was part of Brazil's squad at the
2022 FIFA World Cup
The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022; it is the first Wor ...
.
Club career
Ituano
Born in
Guarulhos
Guarulhos () is a Brazilian municipality. It is the second most populous city in the Brazilian state of São Paulo, the 13th most populous city in Brazil, and is also the most populous city in the country that is not a state capital. In the las ...
, São Paulo, Martinelli started his career in 2010, playing for
Corinthians
The First Epistle to the Corinthians ( grc, Α΄ ᾽Επιστολὴ πρὸς Κορινθίους) is one of the Pauline epistles, part of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The epistle is attributed to Paul the Apostle and a co-author ...
'
futsal team. After making the breakthrough in football fields, he moved to
Ituano in 2015, having subsequent trials at
Manchester United
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...
and
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
.
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
The Campeonato Paulista Série A1, commonly known as Campeonato Paulista, nicknamed Paulistão, is the top-flight professional football league in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. Run by the FPF, the league is contested between 16 clubs and t ...
away win against
São Bento; at the age of 16 years and nine months, he became the youngest player to play 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
Taboão da Serra is a municipality in the state of São Paulo in Brazil. It is part of the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo. The population is 293,652 (2020 est.) in an area of 20.39 km². It is the second smallest city in area in the São ...
, for the year's
Copa Paulista
The Copa Paulista de Futebol, formerly known as Copa FPF, also sometimes called Copa Federação Paulista de Futebol or, in English, São Paulo State Cup, is a tournament organized by Federação Paulista de Futebol Company every second half of ...
. Definitively promoted to the first team for the
2019 Campeonato Paulista
The 2019 Campeonato Paulista de Futebol Profissional da Primeira Divisão - Série A1 was the 118th season of São Paulo's top professional football league.
Format
*In the first stage the sixteen teams were drawn, with seeding, into four group ...
, 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 2019.
Arsenal
Martinelli was reportedly subject to interest from a number of clubs, but signed a long term contract with
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...
club
Arsenal
An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostl ...
on 2 July 2019, for a reported fee of £6 million (
R$46.9 million). Holding an
Italian passport
An Italian passport is issued upon request to an Italian citizen for the purpose of international travel. It is valid for 10, 5 or 3 years, depending on the applicant's age. Its biometric version has been available since 2006. It is ranked as ...
, Martinelli was not subject to the
scrutinized criteria required for English clubs to sign South American players.
He travelled with the Arsenal first team to their pre-season tour in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
. He scored a goal on his non-competitive debut, in a 3–0 pre-season win against
Colorado Rapids
The Colorado Rapids are an American professional soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Founded in 1995, as part of the Anschutz Corporation, lat ...
on 16 July. Upon signing, Martinelli was originally set to play primarily with the
under-21s in his first season, then slowly be integrated from the academy setup to the first-team. However, Martinelli's impressive pre-season and quality in training encouraged Arsenal that he would be ready for immediate first-team integration.
2019–2022: Debut season and breakthrough
Martinelli made his Premier League debut on 11 August 2019 in a 1–0 win against
Newcastle United
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East En ...
, coming on in the 84th minute as a substitute for
Henrikh Mkhitaryan
Henrikh Mkhitaryan ( hy, Հենրիխ Մխիթարյան, ; born 21 January 1989) is an Armenian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or winger for club Inter Milan.
Mkhitaryan won four Armenian Premier League titles w ...
. On 24 September, Martinelli scored a brace in his first competitive start for the club in a 5–0 victory over
Championship
In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion.
Championship systems
Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship.
Title match system
In this system ...
side
Nottingham Forest in the
EFL Cup
The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by t ...
. 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
Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège (; nl, Standard Luik ; german: Standard Lüttich ) or simply Standard in Belgium, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Liège.
They are one of the most ...
in the
UEFA Europa League
The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. ...
on 4 October, in which he scored another brace. Martinelli kept up his goal scoring form, netting the equalizer in a 3–2 home win over
Vitória Guimarães
Vitoria or Vitória may refer to :
People
* Francisco de Vitoria (c. 1483–1546), a Spanish Renaissance theologian
* Alberto Vitoria (1956–2010), Spanish footballer
* Rui Vitória (born 1970), Portuguese retired footballer
* Steven Vitória ...
on 24 October, with another header. In the League Cup fourth round on 30 October, Martinelli registered another brace in a 5–5 draw with
Liverpool
Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...
, and also scored his penalty in the penalty shootout, which Arsenal eventually lost. As a result, he became the first player to score four times in his first four starts since
Ian Wright
Ian Edward Wright (born 3 November 1963) is an English television and radio personality and former professional footballer. He works as a pundit for BBC Sport and ITV Sport.
Wright enjoyed success with London clubs Crystal Palace and Arsenal ...
. Martinelli's performance received praise from Liverpool manager
Jürgen Klopp
Jürgen Norbert Klopp (; born 16 June 1967) is a German professional football manager and former player who is the manager of club Liverpool. He is widely regarded as one of the best managers in the world.
Klopp spent most of his playing ...
, who labelled him "
hetalent of the century".
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
Nicolas Pépé
Nicolas Pépé (born 29 May 1995) is a professional footballer who plays as a winger for club Nice, on loan from Arsenal of the . Born in France, he represents the Ivory Coast national team.
Pépé began his senior club career with Poitiers ...
. After the appointment of interim head coach
Freddie Ljungberg, Martinelli started his first Premier League game, scoring Arsenal's equaliser in an eventual 1–3 win over
West Ham United
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...
on 9 December. On 21 January 2020, Martinelli scored in a 2–2 away draw at
Chelsea on 21 January, making him the first teenager to reach double figures in a 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 four-year contract, with a team option for an extra year, until 2025. Shortly after, Martinelli was ruled out until the end of 2020, undergoing surgery to repair a lesion in the cartilage of his knee following an injury in training on 21 June. He made his return on 19 December, coming off the bench to play 19 minutes in a 2–1 away defeat to
Everton. During the warmup against
Newcastle United
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East En ...
in the
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football compet ...
on 9 January 2021, he sustained a minor ankle injury and was replaced in the lineup by
Reiss Nelson
Reiss Luke Nelson ( ; born 10 December 1999) is an English professional footballer who plays as a winger for Premier League club Arsenal.
Early and personal life
Nelson was born in Elephant and Castle, London He grew up in Aylesbury Estate i ...
. Martinelli returned to playing in European competition on 18 February, making a 13 minute cameo appearance off the bench in a 1–1 draw against
Benfica. He scored his first goal of the season in a 3–0 away victory against
Sheffield United
Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...
on 11 April.
Martinelli scored his first goal (a
volley with his second touch of the game) of the
2021–22 season against Newcastle United on 27 November. This goal of his was eventually ranked 3rd in the official Goal of the Season poll held by the club at the end of the season.
On 18 December, he scored twice against
Leeds United
Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...
three days later, marking his first Premier League brace, with his first goal marking Arsenal's 7,000th scored in top-division English football. On 10 February 2022, Martinelli was sent off for two yellow cards in the space of four seconds against
Wolves
The wolf (''Canis lupus''; plural, : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large Canis, canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of Canis lupus, subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been reco ...
. It was his first red card in his career. The red card gained some controversy as he was given 2 yellow cards in one passage of play, starting off with pushing
Daniel Podence
Daniel Castelo Podence (born 21 October 1995) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a winger for club Wolverhampton Wanderers.
He started his career with Sporting CP, appearing in 40 competitive matches and also being loaned to ...
after a throw in, and then a foul against
Nélson Semedo
Nélson Cabral Semedo (born 16 November 1993) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers and the Portugal national team.
Semedo began his career at Sintrense before joini ...
.
On 5 August 2022, Martinelli scored for Arsenal in their 2–0 away win at
Crystal Palace
Crystal Palace may refer to:
Places Canada
* Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick
* Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario
* Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...
, becoming the first Brazilian to net a season-opening goal of a Premier League campaign.
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
The 2019 Copa América was the 46th edition of the Copa América, the international men's association football championship organized by South America's football ruling body CONMEBOL. It was held in Brazil and took place between 14 June and 7 ...
. In November 2019, Martinelli appeared for
Brazil's under-23 side at the United International Football Festival in Spain.
On 2 July 2021, Martinelli was named in the
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
squad for the
2020 Summer Olympics
The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July.
Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...
. On 3 August, Martinelli scored Brazil's second penalty to help defeat
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
in the Olympic semi-final, before becoming a gold medallist after Brazil defeated
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
in the final four days later.
He was named in the 25-man
senior Brazil squad on 11 March 2022 for the
2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
and
Bolivia
, image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg
, flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center
, flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...
. Martinelli made his international debut when he came off the bench for
Vinícius Júnior
Vinícius José Paixão de Oliveira Júnior (born 12 July 2000), commonly known as Vinícius Júnior or Vini Jr. (), is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a winger for La Liga club Real Madrid and the Brazil national team. Consi ...
to play the last 14 minutes of Brazil's 4−0 win over Chile at the
Maracana Stadium.
On 7 November 2022, Martinelli was named in the squad for the
2022 FIFA World Cup
The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022; it is the first Wor ...
.
Style of play
A dynamic and explosive wide forward known for his agile movement, Martinelli is capable of dribbling past multiple opponents to create or score goals. Martinelli models himself on
Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (; born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward and captains the Portugal national team. He is currently a free agent. Widely regarded as one of the greatest p ...
, a natural template for any goalscoring wide forward.
He is often compared to
Pedro Rodriguez in
Pep Guardiola
Josep "Pep" Guardiola Sala (; born 18 January 1971) is a Spanish professional football manager and former player, who is the current manager of club Manchester City. He is considered one of the greatest managers of all time and holds the re ...
's
Barcelona
Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...
, with technical excellency and a strong understanding of when to time his runs.
Media
Martinelli was involved in the
Amazon Original sports
docuseries
Television documentaries are televised media productions that screen documentaries.
Television documentaries exist either as a television documentary series or as a television documentary film.
*Television documentary series, sometimes called d ...
''
All or Nothing: Arsenal'', which documented the club by spending time with the coaching staff and players behind the scenes both on and off the field throughout their
2021–22 season.
Career statistics
Club
International
Honours
Arsenal
*
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football compet ...
:
2019–20
Brazil U23
*
Summer Olympics
The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...
:
2020
2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...
Individual
*
Campeonato Paulista
The Campeonato Paulista Série A1, commonly known as Campeonato Paulista, nicknamed Paulistão, is the top-flight professional football league in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. Run by the FPF, the league is contested between 16 clubs and t ...
Young Player of the Year:
2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
*Campeonato Paulista Team of the Year: 2019
References
External links
Profileat the Arsenal F.C. website
Profileat the Premier League website
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Martinelli, Gabriel
2001 births
Living people
People from Guarulhos
Footballers from São Paulo (state)
Brazilian footballers
Association football forwards
Ituano FC players
Arsenal F.C. players
Premier League players
Brazil youth international footballers
Brazil international footballers
2022 FIFA World Cup players
Olympic footballers of Brazil
Footballers at the 2020 Summer Olympics
Olympic medalists in football
Olympic gold medalists for Brazil
Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics
Brazilian expatriate footballers
Expatriate footballers in England
Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in England
Brazilian people of Italian descent