Arsenal are going through a wonderful stint in the Premier League currently, winning their last three games and pushing into the top four, fighting to return to the Champions League. Gabriel Martinelli and Gabriel Magalhães, both from Brazil, have played a part in the team’s recent success.
Martinelli is a promising striker who has wowed the audience since his arrival at the club, but he has now established himself as a starter and has not disappointed. He presently has four goals and two assists, two of which came against Leeds United over the weekend.
The striker has finally earned his moment after waiting behind Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette. He is unlikely to be dropped anytime soon. In 2019, he got the nickname “GabiGoal” for his offensive prowess despite his lack of playing time, but he has since established himself as a first-team player.
He suffered a significant injury during training in June 2020 and had surgery. He only returned towards the end of the year, but he has rediscovered his form and is now one of Arsenal’s main attacking options.
“We have a young team, but it is a really strong team,” he says. After the latest triumph, the number 35 told Arsenal’s official website, “We are together as a team and we are together with the fans as well.”
Gabriel Magalhães provides a strong defense.
Martinelli’s namesake, Gabriel Magalhães, joined the Gunners in 2020 and has since taken over as the defensive leader. He’s forged an excellent relationship with Ben White, who joined the club from Brighton in the summer, and the two have combined to keep eight (8) clean sheets and score one goal in 15 games. The left-footed player has brought a lot of potential to the London side’s defensive plan, which has been prone to conceding a lot of goals this season.
The defender is a technical player who is good with the ball and distributes the ball well. Despite his height, he is quick and strong in the air.
Magalhães took over the starting spot from Pablo Mari, causing the defender to lose ground and may now even be sold. The Brazilian was named in FIFA 22’s Team Of The Week, which honors players who excelled over the week with special cards.
It’s worth remembering that Gabriel isn’t the first Brazilian to join Arsenal’s defense. Gabriel Paulista defended the club’s colors between 2015 and 2017 after stints at Vitória and Villarreal. He has been a Valencia player since 2017 and has even obtained Spanish citizenship in the hopes of being called up to the national team.
On the table, the gunners recuperate.
Arsenal got off to a shaky start in the Premier League and they were closer to relegation than first place. Mikel Arteta, the Gunners’ head coach, had his work cut out for him and was walking a tightrope, but the team survived and are now in a fantastic position. A bet on Gabriel Martinelli, who was promoted to the starting lineup and scored three goals in the team’s first three games, was one of the reasons for this.
Arsenal are currently in the top four in the Champions League standings. The last time a London team finished in the top four was in the 2015-2016 Premier League season, when they were second to Leicester.
Since then, Arsenal have finished eighth in consecutive seasons, as well as in the 2020-2021 season. Arsenal’s chances of qualifying for the next Champions League will be determined by the performance of the Brazilian duo.
Tite’s Alternatives on the Brazilian Team
The Brazilian defense is now weakened; Lucas Verssimo was a regular in Tite’s team throughout the year, but he suffered a serious injury and is expected to recover in the second half of 2022. In his place, Gabriel Magalhães was called up, however he was not allowed to play in the games against Colombia and Argentina.
However, the Brazilian team has the potential to be very strong in the future. Other names in European football, such as Felipe (Atlético de Madrid) and Diego Carlos, stand out alongside Gabriel (Sevilla). The defender represented Brazil at the Tokyo Olympics, when he was one of the players above the age of 24.
Gabriel Magalhães, who was of Olympic age, was called up by André Jardine, but he was unable to play due to a knee injury and did not participate in the group. Due to his fantastic season at Arsenal, he has a good chance of being called up for the National Team again.
Another player that competed in Japan and won a gold medal was Gabriel Martinelli. He was a substitute and did not participate in the final against Spain, but he is a name on Tite’s radar at the age of 20, owing to his goals in England.
Martinelli had the option of playing for Italy before being selected for the Olympic team, but his selection for the Olympic team eliminated that possibility, and he is expected to become a well-known figure with Amarelinha in the following years.
A similar career start
The two “Gabriéls” aren’t well-known in Brazil after forsaking the sport at an early age. In truth, neither player had a long pro career and were quickly sold to a foreign country.
Martinelli was scouted by Ituano when he was 16 years old and made his professional debut with the club in 2018. He was the club’s youngest player in the century, and he played in the Campeonato Paulista, where he scored six goals and advanced to the quarter-finals before being transferred to Arsenal the following year.
Gabriel Magalhães, on the other hand, was discovered by Ava in 2016 and played a key role in the team’s elevation to Serie A the following year. He was born in Sao Paulo and signed his first professional contract at the age of 16. However, he only spent a short time with the Santa Catarina team.
In 2017, he also joined Lille, where he played in the B team and was loaned out to Troyes and Dinamo Zagreb. He then broke into the first team and quickly established himself as one of the most sought-after defenders on the market, eventually being signed by Arsenal for £26 million with add-ons in 2020.
This season still has a long way to go; the fight for a place in the Champions League is still ongoing and promises to be entertaining. Gabriel Martinelli’s performance will be critical if the team is to fulfill its goal and return to Europe’s biggest stage.
