Gabriel Martinelli backed by Mikel Arteta to come good in Saka’s prolonged absence due to his hamstring injury.
Gabriel Martinelli can help to fill the void created by Bukayo Saka’s hamstring injury, with the England forward likely to miss key fixtures including the north London derby next month.
After injuring a hamstring during the first half of Arsenal’s victory at Crystal Palace, Saka was predicted to miss “many weeks” of action, Arteta said on Monday. This would prevent him from playing in Premier League games, including as Arsenal’s match against Tottenham on January 15, the first leg of the Carabao Cup semi-final against Newcastle, and an FA Cup third-round matchup with Manchester United.
Martinelli, who switched flanks at Palace and contributed a goal and an assist, is expected to start on the right when Arsenal hosts Ipswich on Friday, as Raheem Sterling will also be out for a long time due to a knee injury. Although the Brazilian has only scored 10 Premier League goals since 2022–2023, Arteta thinks Martinelli can step up when Saka is out.
“I think so. Gaby loves it: you give him a challenge and he wants to do it today if he can. He’s a player that likes responsibility and likes having a bigger role. But it’s for all the players to take responsibility. I think it’s something collective. Everybody is going to have to add something else because Bukayo, who we rely a lot on, is not going to be with us.”
After Gabriel Jesus scored five goals in two games versus Palace, marking a timely return to form, Arteta has downplayed rumours that Arsenal would add more players in January.
Ethan Nwaneri may get more opportunities now that Sterling, who was brought on loan from Chelsea to cover for Saka, is undergoing additional testing to determine the severity of his knee injury. Although Arteta is still wary about hurrying him, the 17-year-old has made 10 league substitute appearances this season and scored three goals in the Carabao Cup despite not having started a league game yet.
“He needs to understand a few things,” he said. “Obviously again for Ethan there’s been a massive step in the last 12 months. But he’s on the journey with us and every time he plays I think he changes games for the better, so that’s a really good sign.”