- Martinelli hobbled off with an issue in the Carabao Cup semi-final final defeat
- Mikel Arteta had criticised his side’s failure to sign a forward in January window
- LISTEN NOW: It’s All Kicking Off! Does the Premier League REALLY need to look at goal celebrations?
Gabriel Martinelli will miss more than a month of action after suffering a hamstring injury against Newcastle, according to a report.
Martinelli went down clutching his hamstring in the 37th minute at St James’ Park during the Gunners’ Carabao Cup semi-final second leg defeat on Tuesday and now faces a spell on the sidelines.
The latest blow for Mikel Arteta‘s side comes amid an injury crisis of sorts, with Arteta expressing his disappointment at the club’s failure to sign a forward player in the recent transfer window.
Artera immediately signalled for teenager Ethan Nwaneri to come on following the blow on Tuesday, and Martinelli was seen limping off the field, aided by medical staff.
Arsenal are already without Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Jesus, with the latter having been ruled out for the season with an ACL injury.
They will now need to find yet another solution to their attacking struggles, with Martinelli often filling in for Saka with Leandro Trossard on the right, and, according to The Athletic, the Brazilian is set to miss more than a month.
The natural replacement would appear to be more regular minutes for Nwaneri, though they are now extremely thin in terms of options.
A number of players were pursued in January, including Ollie Watkins and Alvaro Morata, but the Gunners failed to bring in reinforcements.
Arteta said: ‘We had a clear intention which is a window open to explore the opportunities to improve our squad with players that can impact it.
‘We haven’t achieved it so we are disappointed in that sense, but as well we are very aware that we only want to bring certain kind of players and we have to be very disciplined with that as well and I think that we will.
‘When you try your best and you do things with the right process and you see the people that we all share the same intentions and wills and after you don’t achieve it, for sure there are things to learn from it, there always are, but you have to move on and that’s a piece that was important in the moment and now we have to move on.
‘Nobody knows whether it is better to have done it or not. We’ll know probably at the end of the season.’
When pushed further on the topic of signing a striker, he said: ‘It was a very similar narrative as well at the end of last season and it’s been for a while, which I understand.
‘But there are certain things that we can do, certain things that we cannot do and that’s it. When somebody is showing that will to win to say, ‘OK now is the moment to do it and we are willing to do it’ then you cannot do it, OK you can be disappointed but at least you tried your best.’
