Arsenal are about to kick off their Premier League campaign, but whilst there have been few additions, they are hoping for internal improvements.
Mikel Arteta’s side finished just two points behind Manchester City in the title race last season, and are now looking to go one step further and beat them to the trophy.
Despite Arsenal’s outstanding form in 2024, which saw them win 16 out of 18 league games, there were some players who performed below expectations.
Gabriel Jesus and Oleksandr Zinchenko both admitted that they needed to improve on disappointing campaigns, and the same can be said of Gabriel Martinelli, who suffered a dip in form after an outstanding 2022-23 season.
Both Jesus and Zinchenko have looked sharp in pre-season, and there are also positive signs to suggest that Martinelli could also return to his best.
Gabriel Martinelli is destined to hit his best form for Arsenal this season
Martinelli scored 15 non-penalty goals two seasons ago, but managed just six strikes in the Premier League last season, in what was also an injury-hit campaign.
This did include vital goals against Manchester City and Liverpool, but overall he could not find his best rhythm and found himself benched for Leandro Trossard by the end of the campaign.
However, ESPN have now revealed that Martinelli’s underlying stats were almost identical in the last two seasons, indicating that he is set for an improvement now.
“Martinelli’s underlying performance was almost the exact same as the season before: 0.59 xG+xA in 22-23 and 0.58 last season. And so, Martinelli fits the profile for the kind of player who could have an explosive bounceback season,” a report explained.
Gabriel Martinelli will have better conditions to thrive in this season
Martinelli was not only unlucky with injury, but he was battling a tidal wave of frustrating problems last season.
Losing Granit Xhaka in midfield meant Martinelli lost a lot of link-up support on the left side. The constant rotation and uncertainty at left-back did not help, with Zinchenko providing a lot of support from an inverted role two seasons ago.
The arrival of Riccardo Calafiori at left-back may help provide another passing option for Martinelli, and if he is followed by Spain star Mikel Merino, whom Arsenal are expected to sign, Martinelli will have much more support than he did last season.
If he can find his confidence early on, Martinelli can get back to his best, and this would be a mouthwatering prospect for the Arsenal attack.
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