Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta believes Gabriel Martinelli has a long term future at the club, according to Goal journalist Charles Watts.

The Brazilian’s lack of game time since his return from a knee injury in December has raised concerns that the teenager is not rated by Arteta but Watts has reassured supporters that the player has a future at the Emirates:

“All the fears over Martinelli and whether Mikel fancies him or doesn’t fancy him, I don’t think you should be worried about that. From everything that I am told, he is still very much part of the long-term future at Arsenal.”

Arteta has been complimentary of Martinelli’s training performances in recent weeks but that hasn’t translated into minutes on the pitch. The teenager has played just nine minutes of Premier League football since the end of January and he has only featured in six games this year.

There is certainly a lot of competition for places out wide, with the likes of Bukayo Saka, Nicolas Pepe, Willian and Emile Smith Rowe all competing for roles, so Martinelli will need to remain patient in order to get his chance.