Mikel Arteta told he had the next Luis Suarez at Arsenal but he’s completely wasted his chance

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In total, Luis Suarez scored three goals against Arsenal whilst playing for Liverpool and Barcelona in the past.

Arsene Wenger famously wanted to sign Suarez for Arsenal back 2013, when the Gunners submitted a £40,000,001 bid for the Liverpool striker.

Of course, the Uruguay international eventually left Anfield for Barcelona instead, scoring against Arsenal for the Catalan giants in 2016, just to rub it in.

A story of what could have been for the Gunners, who would have surely won more silverware under Wenger were they able to sign such a tenacious goalscorer.

Gabriel Martinelli was ready to become Arsenal’s very own Luis Suarez

That being said, when speaking on the ‘Handbrake Off’ podcast, former Arsenal player Adrian Clarke actually thought Arsenal wasted their opportunity to turn Gabriel Martinelli into the next Suarez.

Clarke thought there was a chance for Mikel Arteta to try the Brazilian as a striker when Martin Odegaard was injured recently, when the Arsenal manager opted for Leandro Trossard instead.

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Clarke explained: “I loved him when he emerged on the scene as a striker, I did. I saw him developing into a Luis Suarez type striker, an absolute menace.

“You know, someone who is really hard-working, industrious and just doesn’t stop running and he’s got that aggression about him, hasn’t he, Martinelli? With and without the ball.

“I think there’s definitely a possibility to use him there, but we’ve kind of missed that opportunity when Odegaard was out, you know.

“The manager went with Trossard and Havertz, and I thought it worked quite well actually, the little large, and we’ve sung their praises on occasion.

“It then sort of stopped working, didn’t it, quite as well, so yeah when that happened maybe it would have been nice to see Martinelli tried up front with Havertz.”

What has Arteta said about playing Martinelli as a striker?

In truth, Arteta hasn’t given a lot away in terms of how he feels about Martinelli playing as a centre-forward.

However, when speaking back at the end of 2022, when Gabriel Jesus suffered a significant injury, Arteta did humour the thought of Martinelli being used as such.

The Arsenal manager also mentioned a few names that have left the Emirates Stadium of late, perhaps demonstrating why the Gunners need to recruit better depth in the area.

Arteta said: “I think [Jesus] is a unique player but Eddie [Nketiah] has incredible qualities as well for the way we want to play.

“We have other alternatives in that we can play Martinelli up front as well. We are currently a little bit short in terms of up-front positions but getting Emile [Smith Rowe] back is going to be a big one.”