My Arsenal Blog

Speaking to the press ahead of Arsenal’s encounter with Norwich City on Saturday, manager Mikel Arteta said he wasn’t looking for any excuses for the poor results of the first three Premier League rounds, but he is looking forward to having some players, previously absent, available for selection.

“Well, I’m really looking forward to having everybody available and trying to start the season the way we want,” Arteta said.

“We don’t want to use any excuses. We know how difficult the start was, with injuries, with a lot of COVID issues that we had, and with difficult games we had to play. We have to reset now, and hopefully get everybody back on track, and start winning football games, which is what we have to do.”  .......Read more here.....

While Mikel Arteta may be gearing up for a season in which Aubameyang and Lacazette are featured heavily up top again, we think he needs to be giving some serious consideration to what kind of role Gabriel Martinelli can and will play in this equation.

At the age of just 20, he’s already starting to make the best and biggest kind of splash you could hope for as a young player – and especially as a young forward. Whenever he comes on the pitch there’s a certain energy in the air that radiates off of this Arsenal team and instead of shying away from that, we think Arteta needs to embrace it in every way imaginable.  .......Read more here.....

For many months now fans have been excited about the potential of Gabriel Martinelli. Unfortunately, due to various injuries, he hasn’t quite been able to showcase what he’s capable of on a consistent basis.

The youngster did manage to get back into the starting XI over the weekend for the game against Sheffield United, which marked his first start since January. As the Gunners ran out 3-0 winners it was Alexandre Lacazette who seemed to steal the show, and while that was well deserved, many seemed to forget that Martinelli also got in on the act with a really strong outing – and a goal to round things off.  .......Read more here.....

Arsenal’s 25-man list for the knockout stages of the Europa League has been revealed, and as expected, there were a couple of changes compared to the one submitted for the group phase back in October.

Sokratis Papastathopoulos and Mesut Ozil missed out back then, and they both left the club in January. That may not be too relevant, but the departures of Sead Kolasinac and Shkodran Mustafi, who were both on that list, certainly are as they opened up two spots for foreign players to be added. Those spots have now been filled by goalkeeper Mat Ryan and attacking midfielder Martin Odegaard, both of whom arrived last month on loan from Brighton and Hove Albion and Real Madrid, respectively.  .......Read more here.....

Arsenal have provided updates on the fitness of three players ahead of the Premier League match against Crystal Palace scheduled to take place on Thursday evening at the Emirates.

Gabriel Martinelli turned his right ankle during the warm-up process ahead of the FA Cup win over Newcastle United on Saturday and was consequently replaced in the line-up, having initially been named to start. The 19-year-old forward missed the start of the season through a serious knee injury, and once he recovered, he still understandably needed time to raise his fitness level to the standards required.  .......Read more here.....

Arsenal are set to play Burnley at the Emirates on Sunday evening, looking to break the run of three Premier League home defeats on the trot with 2,000 fans behind them, present in the stadium for the first time since the spring lockdown. The need for a good result has become dire with the Gunners sitting in 15th place at the moment. Manager Mikel Arteta has delivered some updates on the players who have recently been injured and whose involvement in this match was uncertain.  .......Read more here.....

Arsenal have enjoyed a solid start to the season but they’re still waiting for a few players to return to full fitness – and that includes Gabriel Martinelli. The young forward was widely considered to be one of the Gunners’ most exciting stars prior to his injury, and now, he’s gearing up to try and revive that reputation as he pushes for a comeback before the end of the year.

He recently spoke with Arsenal.com and spoke about how confident he’s feeling and how excited he is to have a few more Brazilians in the squad after the summer transfer window.  .......Read more here.....

While Arsenal may have gotten off to a flying start in the Premier League last weekend against Fulham, there are still a handful of issues that need to be resolved. A few of those problems stem from injuries and while the Gunners do have a near enough fully fit squad, there are two players that are still working their way back up to full fitness.

“Pablo Mari
Left ankle. Sustained significant sprain to ankle ligaments during Manchester City (a) on June 17.

Latest update on Pablo:
•    Now running outside and continues strengthening programme.
•    Aiming to return to full training by the end of September.  .......Read more here.....

Gabriel Martinelli could miss the rest of the 2019/20 season through a knee injury he suffered in training, as reported exclusively by David Ornstein of The Athletic.

Apparently, the injury occurred on Monday, in a session the young forward managed to complete, but he reported the discomfort afterwards. The early signs point to meniscus damage, which, if confirmed, would almost certainly rule him out for the remaining part of the ongoing campaign. Martinelli underwent a scan on Tuesday, and the results are expected today (Wednesday).  .......Read more here.....

Gabriel Martinelli arrived to the Emirates last summer from Brazilian side Ituano, and since then, the 18-year-old has impressed whenever given the chance with his pace, tricky feet and the general threat he poses for the opposition in the final third. He’s racked up a total of 14 goal involvements – 10 goals and four assists, in 25 appearances across all competitions. At around £6 million, it’s fair to say he was a very smart acquisition.

However, in an interview with FourFourTwo, the youngster himself has revealed that he was very close to joining Manchester United instead.  .......Read more here.....