Boa sorte, Gabriels: Arsenal say goodbye to two title-winning Brazilians

Boa sorte, Gabriels

The hardest part for any club in top-level sport is to put sentiment to one side, take emotion out of the equation, and know when it is time to cut ties with talent who have contributed to your success.

Sir Alex Ferguson used to say that was one of the hardest parts of management, but also a crucial aspect, knowing when to freshen up a squad even if that meant offloading someone popular with his peers and the fanbase.

Many Gooners are saddened that this summer we lost two out of our three Gabriels.

Financially, Arsenal reduced the wage bill by approx £400,000 by selling the two Brazilians, while on the pitch, now was the right time for a fresh chapter in their careers.

Martinelli experienced Arsenal’s fall and rise

In the case of Martinelli, a teenager had grown into a man in North London. They say you can judge a person not by how he acts when things are going well, but when dealing with adversity.

In the dark days of Unai Emery’s last few months in charge at the Emirates, the youngster was one of the few who was brave enough to demand the ball and had the personality not to be afraid to take a risk.

That’s why at Selhurst Park on the final day of last season, the 25-year-old stood proudly on the pitch with his parents and future wife, wanting to take photos with everyone to remember the occasion, because few in our dressing room have experienced the fall and rise of the Gunners.

While he and his family will be well paid in Saudi Arabia, you do sense that if he had his way, Martinelli would still be with the champions?

That his peak years won’t be in England perhaps is indicative of how much Mikel Arteta prefers to micro-manage. The Spaniard used to speak of coaching the player to time his runs so he would save his energy.

A section of our fanbase translated that as the attacker having his flair coached out of him, no longer taking on his man and often cutting back instead of heading to the byline.

LONDON, ENGLAND – AUGUST 13: Gabriel Martinelli of Arsenal celebrates with team mate Gabriel Jesus after scoring their sides fourth goal during the Premier League match between Arsenal FC and Leicester City at Emirates Stadium on August 13, 2022 in London, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

Jesus leaves Arsenal as a champion

Jesus also leaves the English capital, having fulfilled the objective he set for himself when he moved from Man City. He helped his former assistant manager lift the championship, although maybe not how he planned.

The 29-year-old has suffered some serious injuries over the years, and sadly that might be his legacy as a Gunner. It should never be forgotten, though, how crucial his experience was originally to a young group.

Even in this year’s run-in, his knowledge of knowing how to get over the line would have been valuable in training.

For the physical and mental strength it took to recover from those injuries, that alone means he deserves to pack his bags to Barcelona with a fifth Premier League medal in his suitcase.

Arsenal have been champions of England 14 times in their history. The Gabriels contributed to that, an achievement that speaks for itself, that no one can take away from them. It means they will live forever.

Boa sorte, Gabriels.

Dan Smith

What are your favourite memories of Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Jesus at Arsenal? Do you think the club have chosen the right time to move both players on, or would you have kept either of them? Let us know in the comments.
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  1. Very sad , particularly Martinelli & we haven’t even replaced him. Looks like Arsenal have gone backwards. Some thing is not right at Arsenal.All the talk of owners investing was just to create hype in the media. Look at the City & Chelsea. This is probably the worst attacking team we have in recent years.

    1. Vithal relax and stay calm, trust the manager.
      The boss got brickbats when he sent packing PEA, Ozil, Emilie Smith Row, Ramsdale, and it turned out to be good for the club, we came so close thrice and won the EPL, not a bad achievement.
      As for Gabby M, one EPL goal is not the standard. Eze did well (I’m surprised) against Villa, so the coaching and training is there to address the shortfall. Trust the manager, pal, our club is in safe hands.
      We just need to keep going till Jan, where we can actually sign the exciting Kroupi and rejig our attack. Even Merino has done very well as a makeshift striker. Who knows what tricks Mikel is upto? This Vini and Alvarez were just smoke screens.

  2. My favorite moments of martinelli, The run to equalise the game vs man city, and Chelsea. The other tomenting Liverpool in the carabao cup though we were still knocked out and I’ll add so many cup games that he scored including vs Madrid. I wonder what his ceiling could have been had he gotten maybe a klopp type of couch. All the best to them

  3. Really gonna miss both gabies. Specially martinely. Weyse to be a family team. But it seems that we are moving away from feelings and more onto results and financial benifit. Foot ball is a game first. But now it’s a business. We all want to win. But now it feels like we’ve also lost. Just m opinion. I’ve just seen us loose so many fan faves. Wish them all good luck in the future. Even if they come back and score

  4. Too bad Jesus couldn’t stay healthier. Always felt like he was underrated. Martinelli doesn’t really get enough credit either for his work rate and sacrifice. Not his fault arteta’s system takes away his best attributes most of the time or that he has to sit so deep or wide all the time.

    Especially not happy to let him go without replacement. Whether you’re swinging for the fences or not, a strikeout is a strikeout. I understand not wanting to overpay for players, but this feels like a small team mentality. If real or psg had been negotiating for Rogers and someone comes in with a huge offer, there’s just one question and it’s not about money. Is this the player you want? If it is you pay the extra and get the player. It sucks to overpay, but you’ll make the money back easily if that player helps win titles. Same with the fofana kid. I’ve never seen him, but it sounded like we just got priced out of a 40m deal for a 21 year old player. Ugh…

  5. The one should have go is ARTETA, six years but one Premier League trophy. Thank you Arteta, but it is time for you to go. The squad have enough of quality players. The one should go is Arteta not Martinelli and Jesus..

  6. Sad indeed , hope this will not make us a laughing stock by releasing some of our best players when we need them the most . It has been a marvekvti watch these players in the pitch. Hope we not going back to club building but not winning trophies. We need to defend and redefend our title . Frustration is one part of my life I do not like.

  7. We used to have old-school owners. Gentlemen! They didn’t mess around, they had respect for the club and the fans, and they gave as much as they could. These Kroenke’s are lousy but the worst thing is that they have followers with a sheep mentality against them.

  8. I hope they find a measure of fulfilment in their future careers in football.In terms of footballing skills, Jesus was superior to Martinelli , but nobody I have seen in an Arsenal shirt has outshone the young Brazilian when it comes to working hard without the ball.Unfortunately I have always thought he would be far more effective in a counter attacking side where his pace would cause havoc whereas, in a possession based team like Arsenal, his limitations on the ball were evident.In any event ,in financial terms Martinelli has proved to be our most profitable player investment and hopefully one of two of the highly promising youngsters we have signed recently will turn out to be equally productive.

  9. Am I missing something? Martinelli is still showing as a playing member on the Arsenal website whereas Jesus and Vieira are not shown. Or is just that they have not fully updated the player list? Just wanted to make sure whether he has been sold or the agreement to sell has not gone through.

  10. The piece says refresh. What refresh would that be then. We’ve let 4 attackers go and brought in 1 to replace.

    But don’t worry people, I hear that Jamie Vardy is still available on a free-transfer. 😂🤣

  11. So the sale of martinelli is not listed on arsenal.com and it wasnt listed on the bbc. Martinelli is still listed in the squad as an arsenal player. All other player in and outs are however listed. Do we have a new martenelli signing!

  12. Bruised Banana and Jax,

    With our lack of activity regards bringing in another attacker, am I the only one who hopes there’s a last minute change of mind on both sides.

    Highly unlikely I know, but we can live in hope🤞can’t we?. 🤔

  13. Just checked the official website and there is a comprehensive list of ins and outs.
    Martinelli’s name does not appear anywhere – fingers crossed that’s the club have seen sense regarding this ridiculous move to weaken our squad!!

      1. Or it could be that the club have held back in case they didn’t get players such as Alveras over the line Dan?
        I’m absolutely certain that Gabriel would rather stay at our club than move, despite the reported salary increase.

        1. Once the documents are all signed and shaken on and the transfer is completed, they update the squad list manually. So between formalizing the transfer and updating the page, it maybe take a little time, depending on whether the admin is sitting at their desk or outside arranging for a plumber to come fix their sink 🙂

  14. Of course Jax, but,at this moment in time,he (Martinelli) is still an Arsenal player despite it seems, everything being agreed by both clubs and the player himself.

    Dan, as to your point, I would suggest we take solice from the Everton/Monaco/Balogun situation, where the player decided he didn’t want the move at the very last minute and despite initial contractual terms and agreements being signed…..if reports are correct.

    1. It’s being reported that something turned up in Balogun’s medical at Merseyside and then Everton quickly tried to loan Zirkee from MU because Beto and Ndiaye had already left. Then they turning back to Balogun when the Zirkee loan didn’t pan out. Balogun then had his own change of mind after midnight. The business side of football can hit pretty hard on a personal basis sometimes.

  15. Very sad to see Martinelli go. Looking at how Tzolis was rattled against Villa we might regret selling Martinelli. I don’t know why we couldn’t strengthen our attack as it is the department which has not performed as per our expectations. Several players have found it very difficult in the EPL coming from weaker leagues. Hope Tzolis won’t be one. I would have prefered to have Tzolis competing with either Martinelli or Trossard who are well adapted to the team and the league as he integrates into the team and league. Havertz, Saka, and Odegaard have failed to play a full season for the past two seasons and when fit have been well below the standards they have set before. I genuinely feel that Arteta tries by all means to protect Havertz, Saka, and Odegaard as doesnt want to sign playeres who can oust them from the team. To create a dynasty the coach needs to improve on the first eleven where possible. Despite Konsa and Guimares being very good players we have Salmon and Lewis Skelly who have shown that they are capable of filling those positions so those signings were not very necessary. Madueke and Havertz have shhown that they are not up to the task but they are the coachs favourites and he wont sell them. 1 or 2 injuries upfront and we are doomed. I believe if we sign a good striker we will definitely win the Champions league.

  16. This transfer window will cost us the title, it was really poor, the list of Martinelli and Trossard has weakened our options and with Gyokeres and Havertz makes things worse. Arsenal need class strikers. Corner kicks will not help us this time around. Arsenal blew the opportunity to get strikers and wingers. This was a bad window for Arsenal Bertha and Arteta

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