Gabriel Martinelli has thanked the medical and physio teams at Arsenal as he made his long awaited return from injury on Tuesday night.
The 19-year-old burst onto the scene for the Gunners last term, netting 11 times in all competitions – the first teenager to hit more than 10 goals for the club in a single season.
However, Martinelli has been on the sidelines since June when he suffered a serious injury to his left-knee in training.
But with Mikel Arteta’s side desperately searching for more attacking fluency, the Brazilian returned to action as part of the U21 clash that faced AFC Wimbledon in the Papa John’s Trophy.
Martinelli started the game, getting a 45-minute run out in the 3-0 defeat that also saw defender William Saliba given a red card.
Following the game, the forward took to social media praising the help he has had through his rehab, while also thanking fans for their support.
He posted: “It was a great feeling to get minutes tonight - huge thanks to the medical and physio teams at Arsenal for their fantastic work and to the fans for the amazing support during my long recovery.”
Martinelli was used as one of two central strikers at Plough Lane, alongside summer signing Nikolaj Moller.
The Arsenal boss is still searching for ways to get the best out of skipper Pierre-Emerick Aubaemyang, who has netted just one goal from open play since the first game of the season.
Should Mikel Arteta bring Gabriel Martinelli back into the starting line-up? Have your say here.
And although Arteta hasn’t used a formation using two central strikers, he has tried out Alexandre Lacazette as a No.10 behind the Gunners skipper.
After being used predominantly on the left-wing last season, Arteta could finaly be able to play Martinelli through the middle – the position he believes is his long-term one.
"[Aubameyang and Martinelli] are centre forwards but with the squad balance that we have at the moment, to play on those positions on the left we don’t have five players," Arteta said after the 1-0 win over West Ham United last season.
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