Credit: Jacques Feeney/Offside/Offside/Photo credit should read FRANCK FIFE/AFP/Joe Prior/Visionhaus via Getty Images

Opinion

FeaturedOpinionArsenalEnglish Premier League

What the French media said about Gabriel Martinelli after Arsenal 2-0 PSG in October as Brazilian starts to find some form

Billy Meyers

Tue 22 April 2025 18:45, UK

Gabriel Martinelli is starting to find some form as Arsenal embark on the business end of the campaign.

Having failed to score for five UEFA Champions League games and seven Premier League outings in a row, the Brazil international has netted successive goals in both competitions.

The Arsenal No.11 struck a 93rd minute winner inside the Santiago Bernabeu to cap a historic 5-1 aggregate win over Real Madrid last week, before scoring the second as the Gunners thrashed Ipswich Town 4-0 on Sunday.

🎶 His name is Gabi, he's from São Paulo, and he plays for Arsenal! 🎶

— Arsenal (@Arsenal)

As Gabriel Martinelli starts to find some form and step up for Mikel Arteta ahead of a crucial clash against PSG, it is worth a look back at what the French media said about him in October.

When Foot Mercato called Gabriel Martinelli “invisible”

Arsenal beat PSG 2-0 back in October during a UEFA Champions League ‘league phase’ clash at the Emirates Stadium, with goals from Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka securing all three points.

However, Martinelli struggled. The South American lost possession on five occasions, was dribbled past twice and completed just 14 passes in 90 minutes, which led French news outlet Foot Mercato to call him “invisible” in a damning match report and hand him a rating of five out of ten.

To his credit, the man from Guarulhos has kept going, and with just a week remaining until Arsenal and PSG meet again in the last four of the UEFA Champions League, he can boast nine goals and six assists in 44 appearances so far this season.

If Martinelli – who Thierry Henry recently called “outstanding” – opted to use Foot Mercato’s scathing report as motivation, it seems to have worked.

Gabriel Martinelli targeting UEFA Champions League glory

After what Foot Mercato wrote about him in October, the 23-year-old is eager to silence his doubters and become a European champion.

The goal that put the nail in Real Madrid's coffin!

Martinelli with a clinical finish to book Arsenal's place in the Champions League semi-final ⭐

📺 &

— Football on TNT Sports (@footballontnt)

Martinelli is baying for blood against PSG, with the quoting the Brazilian as saying: “There’s a month and a half to go if I’m not wrong. I will just try to build the momentum and the win in Madrid will give us confidence. We will go for it.

“We’ve still got the league to play for, we will try to give our best to win the games and we’re not going to go to the games to draw or something like that. We want to win every single game that we play and just try to build momentum. A club like Arsenal has to win the biggest titles – we’re going for it.”

Only time will tell if Foot Mercato – who presumably want PSG to knock Arsenal out – will regret their words about Martinelli.