Here are 10 things you probably didn’t know about Gabriel Martinelli.Martinelli is very popularly known as a Brazilian.And that makes sense because he was born in Sao Paulo and even started his football career there.But did you know that he is also of Italian descent through his dad?
Well, because of that, the Arsenal man can also play for the Italian national team. And remember that although he has represented Brazil at the under-23 level, he has not yet played for the senior team. And this means that, at this point, he can still decide to play for either Brazil or Italy. At this point, he very much seems to be leaning towards Brazil, but the Azzurris are not letting him go without a fight. The Italian Football Federation approached Martinelli and tried to convince him to play for them instead of Brazil. Well, we are still awaiting his final decision. And you just get the feeling that he will have to make that decision in 2022.
Martinelli grew up poor in Guarulhos, the second most populous city in Sao Paulo. They were poor and the city was dangerous. So, Gabriel’s parents were scared for their son. They wanted to register.
They enrolled him in school, but he had no interest in formal education.He just wanted to play football.
It was a pretty difficult decision for them to make, but Gabriel’s parents eventually let him follow his passion. They were concerned that, with the level of competition in football at the grassroot level, their son may not make it to the top. But well, look how things turned out now.
Martinelli grew up in a low-income family.He was born in a crime-ridden neighborhood in Brazil where he would always fear for his life while playing for a top side in Europe and making a lot of money. All thanks to his football talent. You know Futsal, right? You know, 5-aside, smaller pitches, where you need a lot of skill and close control to excel. This version of football is extremely popular in Brazil, and it has given birth to a lot of superstars. And Martinelli was an absolute superstar right from when he was a boy. He was playing for Corinthians’ Futsal team when he was just 9 years old. And boy, did he dazzle everyone!
He scored close to a hundred and fifty goals for the team in both the Metropolitan Championship and the State Gold Series. This frightened the youngster.
Increasingly popular in Brazil and even stretching to Europe.So, from Futsal, he moved to the actual pitch and guess what…
Martinelli was so talented as a teenager that even
The biggest clubs in Europe wanted to see what he was about up close.
In 2015, when he was playing for Ituano, a club in Sao Paulo, he was invited to Europe to trial with clubs like FC Barcelona and Manchester United. That is, from
A 4th division club in Brazil to trial with the biggest clubs in Europe. Wow! Such progress!
When asked about his time training with La Masia of Barcelona, Martinelli had this to say:
“My training with La Masia was one of the best experiences I’ve had in football. Besides being one of the biggest academies in the world, the level of training is very high and it made me grow a lot in football. “
The path was so clear and easy for the Brazilian teenager.Or was it?
It was not all rosy for Martinelli. Yes,
He got trials with big clubs in Europe, but they rejected him a lot of times. Yes, he had that really memorable experience training with the Barcelona academy, but he still got rejected by them.
He also trialled with Manchester United when he played on the same side as Mason Greenwood. But
He got rejected not once, not twice, not even three times. He was rejected by the Red Devils four times! And Gabriel was still a young boy, so all these rejections
It surely affected him psychologically. So, he decided to leave Europe and go back to his club in Brazil. At least he was sure he was wanted and appreciated there.
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They don’t play for the same club, nor are they from the same country, so how did this relationship come about? Well, hear it from the horse’s mouth. The Italian met Pogba when he went to trial at United, and here is the Brazilian recounting the events of that day:
“Pogba saw me and asked if everything was okay with me and where I was playing. I told him
He told me everything that happened and then he allowed me to take a picture with him. He also looked after me. “
It was so random, but it is indeed such a beautiful story. It is always great to hear stories like this, because isn’t this what the beautiful game is about?
Although they were a bit reluctant to let their son jettison formal education for football at the beginning, when he made his decision, they supported him totally.
They were with him throughout all those rejections.
and they kept pushing him to do better and be better.
Eventually, with his determination and the support of his parents, Gabriel eventually got a contract with a Premier League club in 2019.
And guess what? His parents left Brazil and moved all the way to London just to help him settle in.
He was just a teenager, so it was going to be a little tough for him to adjust to the new environment alone. So, they went with him and helped him a lot.
Gabriel himself even said that it was difficult at first without them, but when they came, things got a lot better. His mom still cooks his meals.
Hmm… could that be the secret behind his recent blazing form?
Martinelli joined Arsenal in 2019 and has really just hit the ground running.
He won Arsenal’s Player of the Month award in October 2019. Then, in January 2020,
His goal against Chelsea was voted Arsenal’s goal of the season.
And he wasn’t just bagging awards; he was also breaking records. That goal against Chelsea made
He became the first teenager to score 10+ goals in a single season for Arsenal since Nicolas Anelka. Even before that, he scored 2 in an EFL Cup fixture against Liverpool, and those goals made
He became the first player to score 4 in his first 4 appearances for Arsenal since Ian Wright.
Also, as fate would have it, he is in Arsenal’s record books as the scorer of the club’s 7,000th goal in the English top flight.
If Gabriel had been called the talent of the century by any of his managers, it would have been easy to dismiss it as them just trying to prop him up. But this type of statement coming from a rival veteran manager sure does carry a lot of weight.
It was after that EFL Cup game between Liverpool and Arsenal that Martinelli scored. He was just 18 then, but he was an absolute thorn in Liverpool’s flesh. So, in the post-match interview, Klopp had this to say: “It’s really difficult to deal with these guys.” Martinelli is pretty much the same.
[as my players], but he’s a talent of the century. He’s an incredible striker. “
Brazilians are really excited about Martinelli. The fans are excited and even football legends are excited, too.
He reminded him of Ronaldo de Lima, a former teammate.The former Barcelona man said: “He reminds me of Ronaldo.” In his first season in Europe, he scored.
He would run at players, there was no fear, no matter what players or team he was playing against-and I see that similar attitude in Martinelli. “
It is huge to be compared to one of the greatest players of all time, but then this was coming from a football great, so it should not just be ignored.
Ronaldinho also said that just as Ronaldo went on to become the best player in the world, Martinelli could also go on to achieve a similar feat.
Well, the boy is super talented and super driven, so who says he cannot? And remember, he is still
He is very young, so he has a very long way to go. We would actually love to see Martinelli develop.
Just like Ronaldinho predicted, I will become one of the best players in the world.
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