Arsenal star Gabriel Martinelli sends Mikel Arteta message over playing time

Arsenal forward Gabriel Martinelli insists he wants to start every match - despite making a regular impact from the bench. The Brazil international winger was on target on Wednesday evening in the 2-0 Champions League triumph over Olympiacos alongside Bukayo Saka.

But Martinelli, a nailed on starter last season, has found himself out of favour in recent weeks. Still, his response has been perfect after netting twice from the bench against both Athletic Club and Manchester City.

After marking his latest start with the opener, Martinelli made it clear he wants to keep his place in the side, stating: "I want to play and I want to start every single game. I’m going to help the team as much as possible. The manager is the one that takes the decision and we have to respect him. When I have the opportunity, I always try to give my best."

Martinelli is certainly no stranger to competition. The summer signings of Noni Madueke and Eberechi Eze mean it's now tougher than ever to nail down an attacking role at Arsenal. However, that's no different to when Martinelli is away on international duty.

The 24-year-old continued: "I feel good. It’s the same in the national team for me. I’m not going to complain about having Vinicius Junior, Rodrygo and Raphinha playing with me! I’m really happy to have them there and happy to have the players that we have here as well."

Madueke is currently sidelined with a knee injury and is not expected to return to action imminently. Martinelli is expected to start on Saturday when West Ham make the trip across the capital to face the Gunners.

Arsenal have been hit with a number of injuries already this season but their newly-established squad depth has softened the blow. Martinelli insists Arteta's men are gunning for success on all fronts, continuing: "We play for Arsenal.

"Every tournament and thing that we go into, we go to win. Every game that we play for, we want to win. And of course, we want to win the big trophies. This is what we’ve been working for."

He added when asked if the pain of recent seasons is driving the team on: "Yeah, of course, it has to hurt because we want to win. And the club that we play for, it’s massive and the club deserves to win. So, we are going to keep trying our best to win.

"With the signings that we brought in, we’ve got a huge squad now. So let’s try to use this squad, because it’s a long season, everyone knows it and sometimes we have injuries and with a big squad, we have more opportunities to win the game."

Story Saved

You can find this story in  My Bookmarks.Or by navigating to the user icon in the top right.