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Football London
Football London
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Tashan Deniran-Alleyne

Jurgen Klopp makes huge Gabriel Martinelli claim which will delight Arsenal supporters and Edu

Gabriel Martinelli certainly left his mark against Liverpool last week.

The Arsenal wonderkid's impressive start to life in English football continued in the Carabao Cup meeting at Anfield as his two first-half goals took his tally to seven across all competitions so far this season.

He even converted from the spot in the penalty shootout as the Gunners were dumped out of the competition following a 5-5 draw in normal time.

Martinelli was actually Arsenal's first of six signings during the summer transfer window.

And Klopp insists Edu - the club's Technical Director - deserves all the credit for unearthing what looks to be a "really decent player".

"It was not in this game only. I watch a lot of football, so I saw the Europa League games of Arsenal," Klopp told Brazilian TV show  Esporte Interativo.

"He’s 18 years old, right? So our scouting department is all over the world and stuff like this, but I think Edu gets all the credit for that signing – he came from… wherever.

"He’s really unbelievable. So young, looks so mature already, is a proper threat. Yeah, he looks like a really decent player.

"But I didn’t want to put any backpack [pressure] on his back with this thing [his earlier remarks] but I just really like good football players and obviously he’s a very good one."

Gabriel Martinelli celebrates scoring his first against Liverpool (PAUL ELLIS/AFP via Getty Images)

It's not the first time Klopp has praised Martinelli as he did so immediately after the Carabao Cup clash.

"That’s really difficult to deal with these guys. Martinelli’s pretty much the same age [as Liverpool defender Sepp Van De Berg] but he’s a talent of the century, he’s an incredible striker, so it’s really difficult," he told Liverpool's official website

"Then you have Mesut Ozil around and Willock right, who scored by the way a really nice one, so a team like Arsenal in a counter-attacking mood – we keep them deep, play around them, we lose the ball and then it’s really difficult."

Martinelli was a substitute in Arsenal's 1-1 draw against Wolves at the weekend, but is in line to return to the starting line-up for Wednesday afternoon's Europa League clash away at Vitoria.

Arsenal 1-1 Wolves: Unai Emery full press conference
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