Arsenal column: Gabriel Martinelli injury update, Edu and the Brazilian market & more

I can only imagine what Mikel Arteta was thinking when news filtered back to Arsenal that Gabriel Martinelli had followed Bukayo Saka by picking up an injury while on international duty.

It’s too early to say yet whether the calf problem Martinelli is suffering from will rule the Brazilian out of Saturday’s trip to Bournemouth. My understanding is that – following conversations with the Brazilian team’s medical staff – there is not much concern at Arsenal over the severity of Martinelli’s issue.

It might still force him to miss Saturday’s game, but that is a decision that will be taken on Friday before the team makes the trip to the south coast following their final training session at London Colney.

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Arsenal have not insisted that Martinelli returns to the UK early. They are comfortable with him remaining with Brazil and returning as scheduled with Gabriel Magalhaes following the match with Peru.

So it’s too early to rule him out of contention for the weekend, but if he were to miss out then Arteta does have a fair few options to call upon, even if Saka is also absent.

Gabriel Jesus is one of those options. He struggled playing as the central striker against Southampton before the international break, but he’s shown he can be a handy option playing out wide.

He can play on the right or on the left and it would not surprise me to see Arteta utilise him out wide at Bournemouth, although the more likely alternative to Martinelli on the left would be Raheem Sterling.

Jesus is clearly struggling for confidence right now. You can see that by the way he’s playing. He’s thinking about things too much and taking too many touches when he’s in possession.

When Jesus is at his best he does things off the cuff. He creates chaos with his movement and his work rate. But right now he’s bringing more confusion than chaos with his play.

I think there’s certainly a chance this could be his final season at the club, but obviously that is a decision that will be taken in the summer should any suitable offers arrive.

I do expect Arsenal to bring in a forward and that would limit Jesus’ chances further. He’s way behind Kai Havertz now in the pecking order and it’s tough to see him turning that round at present given the form of both players.

But whatever happens he still has a big part to play this season.

Arsenal are going to need Jesus, so it’s crucial they help him improve and find his confidence again because if they can do that then they have a player who has the quality to still have a major say on this campaign.

Honestly, the Unai Emery debate when it comes to Arsenal really does bore me now. I just don’t understand how it is still a thing.

Emery is doing fantastic things at Aston Villa and I’m happy for him because he’s clearly an excellent manager and he was a pleasure to deal with when he was in charge at Arsenal.

But no matter what he does at Villa and what they go on to achieve, it will not change the fact that Arsenal were absolutely correct to get rid of him when they did.

It was the right decision. In fact, it was the only decision. He just had to go.

The results were woeful, the football was even worse and the Emirates was half empty every other week. He’d lost the majority of the fans and it was blatantly obvious that he’d lost large swathes of the changing room as well.

It just didn’t work out and that happens.

That’s not a slant against Emery. Sometimes things just didn’t fit and that’s what happened with him at Arsenal.

He was unlucky as well. He came in at a time when there were so many changes happening behind the scenes. Ivan Gazidis, the man who appointed him, left soon after he arrived and that departure created a power vacuum at the club.

There was a battle behind the scenes that led to Raul Sanllehi taking control and he brought in some players that Emery didn’t really want.

So he had to deal with a lot and maybe if he’d been given the type of power that Mikel Arteta had been given things might have been different.

But that argument is all ifs and buts. That’s why I just don’t get why it is still a thing.

The fact is, everyone has come out of it better.

Emery has gone on to do fantastic things, first with Villarreal and now with Villa. While Arsenal have transformed themselves completely having turned to Arteta.

It’s a win, win for everyone and that really should be the end of the discussion.

Georgiy Sudakov has been linked with Arsenal recently and they will be able to have a close up view of his talents on Tuesday night when Shakhtar Donetsk visit the Emirates in the Champions League.

Sudakov’s stock is rising fast, with clubs such as Arsenal, Manchester City, Spurs and Liverpool all said to be interested in the attacking midfielder.

It’s too early to say whether Arsenal will actually make a move for the 22-year-old, but it’s no surprise to see him mentioned as a potential target for the club.

He fits the profile that Mikel Arteta and Edu like and plays in an area where Arsenal will look to strengthen over the next few windows.

Sudakov likes to get forward from midfield and operate in the No.10 role, but he can also play deeper and with Thomas Partey and Jorginho expected to move on at the end of the season and Mikel Merino approaching his 30s, Arsenal will be looking to add some fresh blood to their midfield options.

They will know, however, due to their highly publicised chase of Mykhailo Mudryk, that Shakhtar are not an easy club to do business with.

So if they do decide to pursue Sudakov, they will be aware that he would not come cheap and Mudryk’s struggles since joining Chelsea show how big a step in class it is when moving from Ukraine to the Premier League.

That should certainly be a warning to any interested parties.

Arsenal fans have been a bit surprised at the club’s reluctance to enter into the Brazilian market of late.

We’ve seen lots of clubs doing it, particularly Chelsea and of course Real Madrid, but Arsenal have kept their powder dry since the signings of Gabriel Martinelli and Marquinhos.

There was an expectation when Edu was appointed that, given his connections in Brazil, the club would look to take advantage of the market over there, but it just hasn’t really happened.

There are always links and we’ve seen that recently with Vitor Reis, but so far Arsenal have preferred to focus their business on the European market.

I can’t say for certain why that is, but my hunch is that they have preferred to move for players they believe will acclimatise quicker to the demands of the Premier League.

Arsenal have been on a rapid rise in the last few years and their approach to building their squad has been carefully managed.

They have signed project players, but maybe they believe the risk has just been too great when it comes to moving for young Brazilian talent, especially given the transfer fees they are now commanding.