Arsenal fans were served with a red-hot display by their star winger Gabriel Martinelli, who ripped Liverpool’s defense to steer the Gunners to a 3-2 win. The winger further sent the fans into a frenzy by announcing that he is in talks to extend his stay at the Emirates. His current deal has just 2 years left on it and runs through the summer of 2024 with an option for the Gunners to extend it by another 12 months.
However, they straight away want to offer him a new contract which will keep him at the club for a long time. Both the club as well as manager Mikel Arteta consider the 21-year-old the present as well as the future of the club, and are preparing a deal accordingly. The club’s recruitment team headed by Edu unearthed Martinelli back in 2019 from Brazilian side Ituano, bringing him to London for just £6 million.
Of course I want to stay – Gabriel Martinelli openly expresses desire to continue at Arsenal
Gabriel Martinelli was center to Arsenal’s resilient win over Liverpool, as he played direct role in his side’s two of three goals. The Brazilian scored right in the first minute of the game to put Arsenal ahead, finishing a brilliantly fed pass from Martin Odegaard. He caused havoc in the Liverpool backline throughout the game, alter setting up Bukayo Saka in the added time of the first-half to help his side reclaim the lead after Darwin Nunez’s equalizer.
A goal and an assist against the Merseyside club means Martinelli now has 6 goal contributions [4 goals and 2 assists] in 9 Premier League outings so far. Talking about his contract extension in the post-match presser, the man-of-the-match said:
“Of course I want to stay at Arsenal. We are talking about a contract so let’s see what happens. But of course I want to stay. I think this is my best season at Arsenal and I am so happy for this moment.
“Everyone can see our hunger and our mentality. We want to win every single game. I am so happy to be playing alongside players like Gabriel Jesus and Bukayo Saka. You can see the understanding we have together but we have a lot of time to improve. We have great quality and I think we can do more.
“Gabby [Gabriel Jesus] is a great guy, not just on the pitch but off it as well. He is always trying to help me. He is only 25 but he has a lot of experience and everyone loves him. It’s an amazing opportunity to be at a big club like Arsenal with so many good players. Of course we dream about winning the title, but we leave all that talk to our fans. We are only thinking about the next game and trying to win again.”
Gabriel Martinelli looks on his way to surpass the goal contributions he had last season of 13, as he aims big with the Gunners. However, the North Londoners should also accelerate their efforts to extend the youngster, since a he has attracted the attention of a lot of clubs. One of them being Liverpool itself, as Jurgen Klopp is a huge admirer of the player. The German back in January this year had said:
“[Gabriel] Martinelli, by the way, everyone should remember that name. He’s an outstanding player. Little Martinelli, we will talk about this player in the future – I can promise. Without injuries, major injuries, Martinelli will have a proper career.”
Arsenal will certainly pay heed to these comments as they are desperate to lockdown the winger to a new deal. The youngster is absolutely enjoying his stay at the Emirates and a new deal will be full deserved given his exploits.