"He's a talent of the century, he's an incredible striker. He's really unbelievable," Jurgen Klopp famously said after watching an 18-year-old Gabriel Martinelli score a brace for Arsenal against his Liverpool team in a 2019-20 Carabao Cup round of 16 tie. "So young, looks so mature already, is a proper threat. I didn't want to put any backpack [pressure] on his back with this thing, but I just really like good football players and obviously he's a very good one."
Despite his best intentions, though, Klopp's glowing remarks did indeed put a heavy "backpack" around Martinelli's shoulders. Expectations for the Brazilian were modest prior to that game, given Arsenal had paid just £8m to sign him that summer from Brazilian minnows Ituano, but an endorsement from one of the best managers in the business put him on the map.
Sure enough, Martinelli went on to establish himself as a regular starter at the Emirates Stadium, and was one of the Gunners' standout performers in 2022-23 as they came agonisingly close to clinching their first Premier League title in almost two decades. Very few defenders had any answer to Martinelli's explosive, unpredictable style of play, and it seemed inevitable that Klopp would be proven right at that stage.
But fast-forward to the present day, and it's fair to say Martinelli's progress has stalled. For a time, the 23-year-old seemed to have lost the fearless edge that made him so exciting to watch, and it has been reported that the Gunners could sanction his departure if they receive an attractive offer in the summer transfer window.
Martinelli, though, has not just suddenly been zapped of all his talent like Charles Barkley & Co when aliens invaded the NBA in the hit movie 'Space Jam'. Rather, the Arsenal man still has the capacity to be a match-winner, as he has reminded everyone - including Champions League semi-final opponents Paris Saint-Germain - with his performances at home and abroad in the last week.
