Martinelli to undergo scan today, extent of injury will be revealed on Tuesday
Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has revealed that Gabriel Martinelli will undergo a scan today to determine the extent of his ankle injury that he suffered prior to the 2-0 victory over Newcastle United in the FA Cup.
The 19-year-old was set to start the FA Cup tie against the Magpies but suffered an injury as he was warming up which ruled him out of the game. He was replaced by Reiss Nelson in the lineup.
Martinelli only recently returned from a long-term knee injury that he suffered in June which kept him out of action for close to six months. He made his first appearance for the first team in the 2020/21 campaign in the 2-1 defeat to Everton at Goodison Park in December.
He was the most impressive player in Arsenal’s 4-1 defeat to Manchester City in the Carabao Cup quarter-final and followed this up with a memorable performance in the Gunners’ 3-1 victory over Chelsea in the Premier League which was the club’s first league win in almost two months.
Arteta was very concerned about the extent of the player’s injury right after his side’s FA Cup victory over Newcastle but was a little more hopeful in his pre-match press conference ahead of Arsenal’s Premier League game against Crystal Palace. He said:
“We don’t know how bad he is. He’s getting a scan this morning. We didn’t look after the game because he was in a lot of pain but yesterday he tested it a little bit better, so let’s hope. We have a scan today so let’s hope it’s not as serious and we can have Gabi back really soon. We will know more tomorrow, certainly.”
On being asked if another injury to the Brazilian meant he was an injury-prone player, Arteta said:
“It’s more bad luck. It’s only three injuries and they’re really different ones. One was a contact and the other one was something that can happen to anybody, so you have to be really unlucky. We’re going to scan him today, hopefully it’s not that bad and it doesn’t knock Gabi back but I was gutted for him because he was in pain and he was gutted.”
