09 December 2023 , 07:00
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Gabriel Martinelli will undoubtedly go down as one of Arsenal's best bits of transfer business for quite some time.
The young winger was plucked from the Brazilian lower leagues for a fee as small as £6million and has since gone on to establish himself as one of the best wingers in the Premier League - all at the age of just 22. However, Gunners fans can be grateful that some poor judgement from rivals Manchester United allowed them to swoop in and land Martinelli's signature.
The Brazil international had as many as four trials with the Red Devils, helped in part by the fact United had a partnership agreement with Martinelli's then-club side Ituano. It may have frustrated the Old Trafford faithful to know that their side passed on the chance to tie down the winger and as a result, he ended up in the red of Arsenal instead.
Martinelli has since discussed what the trials were like and clearly holds no ill feelings towards the Premier League giants for snubbing his services. At the very least, the Arsenal star got to meet some United talents; Paul Pogba, Patrice Evra and Marouane Fellaini while at their Carrington training complex.
The Gunners star said so himself back in 2020, when he told FourFourTwo magazine: "There was a partnership between Ituano and Manchester United which allowed me to go there every year, for four years, to train with boys my age or older.
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"That was nice because I got a first taste of what English football was like. I met Marouane Fellaini, Patrice Evra and Paul Pogba, and made sure I got a photo with all of them. They didn't make an offer, so I returned to Ituano and kept doing my job there."
Paul Pogba was among three Man United stars Gabriel Martinelli posed for a picture withThat first taste of English football clearly served Martinelli in good stead and by the summer of 2019, he was an Arsenal player. Reflecting on the decision to join the Gunners, the wide-forward has previously confessed it was not one that took him long.
"My agent said we need to take a decision [on my future]. When he said Arsenal, I said, 'Okay, you do not need to say anything else, we are going to London'," Martinelli told The Athletic. "My dad and I had watched the Premier League together, all the teams, like Manchester City, Manchester United, Arsenal and Leicester."
Though it has not been the season Martinelli would have hoped for in terms of goals so far this campaign, the 22-year-old has just one to his name in the Premier League, and his performances have been consistently stellar. He'll be aiming to cause more havoc throughout a hectic festive period for the Gunners.