Gabriel Martinelli has welcomed the fierce competition for places at Arsenal, insisting it is pushing him and his teammates to new levels as they target long-awaited Premier League glory.
Arsenal substitutes have scored in five consecutive games, highlighting the strength in depth Mikel Arteta now has at his disposal. Martinelli himself set the trend with goals off the bench against Athletic Bilbao in the Champions League and Manchester City in the league. Since then, Leandro Trossard, Mikel Merino and Bukayo Saka have continued the streak.
It is the first time since the Invincibles era of 2004-05 that Arsenal have enjoyed such consistent impact from their bench, underlining the quality across Arteta’s revamped squad.
Despite a tough start to the season that has included trips to Manchester United, Liverpool and Newcastle, as well as a home clash with City, Arsenal sit second in the league, two points behind Liverpool, and have won both of their Champions League games. Injuries to key players such as William Saliba, Martin Ødegaard, Saka and Kai Havertz have been absorbed thanks to the £250m summer investment in new signings.
Martinelli, back in the starting XI and on the scoresheet against Olympiakos, admits he always wants to start but sees competition from the likes of Eberechi Eze and Noni Madueke as vital. “It’s the same in the national team for me,” he said. “I’m not going to complain to have Vinícius Júnior and Rodrygo and Raphinha playing with me. I’m happy to have the players that we have here, as well. We play for Arsenal. We have to use every single one that is available.”
After three successive second-place finishes, the sense within the squad is that only the title will suffice this season. Martinelli is clear that the near misses must serve as motivation. “They have to hurt because we want to win. It’s just to try to learn from the past three seasons and with the signings we’ve brought in, let’s try to use this squad. It’s a long season and with a big squad, we have more opportunities to win.”
Arsenal face West Ham at the Emirates on Saturday, with belief growing that this could finally be their year.
