Gabriel Martinelli has sent Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang a message with his recent performances under Mikel Arteta.
The 20-year-old has been Arsenal’s best player over the last few weeks and has reignited the threat in attack, which had been missing in the opening stages of the season.
Aubameyang has been stripped of his captaincy and the situation escalated, with the 32-year-old being absent for recent matchday squads.
Martinelli had a tough time after suffering a knee injury and wasn’t receiving game time, but he applied himself in the correct manner until his chance came, highlighting the type of maturity that is expected from every player.
The Brazilian had a tough start to the season and was quickly iced out from Arteta’s starting eleven, despite featuring in the opening weeks of the Premier League campaign.
Martinelli would only receive game time in the Carabao Cup and was struggling to put in an impressive performance that would help him break through.
However, he remained patient without causing problems or being disgruntled at not being picked by the manager, and when his opportunity arose he grasped it with both hands.
Since his marvellous substitute cameo against Newcastle where he scored a magnificent volley, he has started every Premier League game since and has even managed to score four goals during this impressive run.
His contagious energy has elevated the attack for Arsenal as the team have been creating chances galore in the last two Premier League matches, and it has really put new strengths in Arteta’s side with the forward's finally matching the same level of quality as the defence.
The way Martinelli applied himself to get back into the Arsenal team is certainly a mentality that Aubameyang should look to learn from, but it looks as though he is heading in the other direction.
The Gabon international has been left out of the team for the past three matchdays, and speculation has continued to grow after it was announced that the striker will not return to first-team training until after the African Cup of Nations in February.
Spanish outlet El Nacional has reported that Xavi is interested in bringing Arsenal's former captain to the Camp Nou in order to solve striker issues of their own, which possibly highlights that Aubameyang has no intention to make up for his mistakes.
Martinelli’s recent success has put into perspective how an Arsenal player should react if they do struggle to reclaim a place in the team, and Aubameyang should certainly learn from this.
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