Gabriel Martinelli sustained a hamstring injury for Arsenal against Newcastle in the Carabao Cup, and will now be sidelined for some time.
The Gunners are already without Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Jesus through injury, and thus their forward options are light.
Saka is out until March after undergoing hamstring surgery in December, while Jesus suffered an ACL injury and will miss upwards of nine months.
Arsenal opted to sign no one in January despite these issues, and Mikel Arteta will now have to contend with just Kai Havertz, Raheem Sterling and Leandro Trossard as his forward options for an extended period.
Gabriel Martinelli could miss up to seven games for Arsenal after injury
Pulling up after 37 minutes at St. James’ Park on Wednesday, Martinelli was withdrawn with a suspected hamstring injury.
David Ornstein confirmed this injury, revealing that the Brazilian will now miss over a month of action.
This is a significant blow for the Gunners, who are already threadbare in forward areas, and now lose one of their most multi-functional attackers.
With Ornstein’s report revealing the prospective injury timeline for Martinelli, the 23-year-old may miss all of the following seven fixtures across all competitions:
- Leicester (A)
- West Ham (H)
- Nottingham Forest (A)
- Champions League RO16 (A)
- Manchester United (A)
- Champions League RO16 (H)
- Chelsea (H)
While it’s plausible that he returns before some of these games, the nature of hamstring injuries suggests Arsenal need to carefully manage the player.
If Martinelli’s first game back is after the Chelsea match, he won’t feature again until after the March international break, which is when Saka is also expected to return.
How Arsenal can cope without Gabriel Martinelli
Options are few and far between for Arteta, and he’ll be forced to rely on four attackers to fill three positions.
Ethan Nwaneri, Havertz and Trossard will likely be the Spaniard’s default trio, with Nwaneri assuming Saka’s role on the right-hand side.
Nwaneri has impressed in recent matches, but he’s still just 17 and that naturally comes with inconsistency.
Sterling will become crucial in Martinelli’s absence, becoming the first offensive option off the bench for Arteta.
The Chelsea loanee will be rotated in to start some games, and may have to cover across the front three in the absence of back-ups in all of the forward positions.
Just when Arsenal thought their injury situation couldn’t get any worse, they receive another gut punch.
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