Gabriel Martinelli is one of Arsenal’s most valuable players.

The Brazilian has been a key player for Mikel Arteta over the past two years.

However, it wasn’t always this way for Martinelli.

Indeed, the winger took some time to establish himself in the Arsenal first-team after joining the club for £6m in 2019.

For quite some time, Emile Smith Rowe was the preferred option down the left, but halfway through the 2021/22 season the Brazilian really started to establish himself.

Speaking on the 1 Para 1 Podcast, Cedric Soares has been discussing Martinelli’s early days at Arsenal, and he says that the Brazilian wasn’t happy with his lack of gametime during his early days at the club.

Gabriel Martinelli wasn’t happy early on at Arsenal

Cedric spoke about how much the Brazilian has grown and how he was previously unhappy about his lack of minutes.

“I’d also like to highlight Martinelli. I saw his growth because there were many games where he was very unhappy about not playing and I saw his growth,” Cedric said.

“I followed it closely, we speak the same language and I am very close to him. I saw his development, becoming a starter consistently with a lot of quality, not just good at one thing, but complete.”

Martinelli’s patience paid off

Gabriel Martinelli may have been unhappy at Arsenal at one point, but his patience has paid off.

The Brazilian has now been playing a key role for Arsenal for over two years, and it looks as though he will be a key component in the Gunners’ success for a long time to come.

This young team has an incredibly high ceiling, and it wouldn’t be a shock if Martinelli played an important role in winning a number of major honours in the coming years.

Martinelli remained patient at Arsenal, and that patience has certainly paid off.