Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has no plans to loan out forward Gabriel Martinelli in January.
The Brazilian has been struggling for minutes this season and he has not made a Premier League appearance since August 22.
The lack of European football for Arsenal this season has hinder Martinelli’s chances, who has had to settle for Carabao Cup action.
Arteta has explained that the competition for places in the forward line has made it harder for the 20-year-old.
But asked if he could loan Martinelli in January, Arteta said: “No, I’m very happy with him and we aren’t thinking about anything like that.
“He had some games that he played, he started against Brentford and he started against Chelsea as well.
“Unfortunately he got injured last week, it is a minor injury but we don’t know if he is going to be available for Monday but we have a lot of trust with Gabby and we need to find the right space for him to grow within the squad.
“If you look at the number of games that he’s played obviously the injuries that he suffered have been big setbacks on that with him.
“We sometimes forget his age, what he’s done and and where he is and we need to try to help him as well to maintain that balance because you can generate frustration that comes out of, in my opinion, an unrealistic diagnosis and you need time to do that.”
