Arsenal starlet Gabriel Martinelli credits Man Utd training for getting him up to speed with the Premier League – The Sun
ARSENAL starlet Gabriel Martinelli has revealed that training with Manchester United has had a positive impact on his football.
The 18-year-old says it helped give him the Premier League momentum he needed before being signed by the Gunners.
Martinelli shone for Brazilian football club Ituano ahead of his move to English football, which led to attention from Premier League giants United.
They invited him to train with the squad with Martinelli praising Paul Pogba for making him feel comfortable during that time.
The Brazilian told DAZN: ''There was a project between Ituano and Manchester United, and they always took a player. And I always came for these trips.
''I could neither speak English nor French, but he [Pogba] said tudo bem and took the picture with me nicely, he was super humble.
''Those training days were super important for me to adapt to the style of play, the players and how fast the game is here''.
However, United opted not to sign the highly-regarded teenager, leaving the Gunners a clear path to swoop him up ahead of Spanish giants Barcelona and Real Madrid.
The £6million signing was welcomed by Arsenal fans who likened the deal to that of Cristiano Ronaldo when the Gunners tried to snap up the Portuguese star in 2003, losing out to United.
Martinelli joined Arsenal in the summer of this year and has made an immediate impact at the Emirates under both Unai Emery and caretaker boss Freddie Ljungberg.
He has stood out among fellow summer signings Dani Ceballos and Nicolas Pepe, with a return of eight goals in 16 games across all competitions.
On top of that he started both of Arsenal's Carabao Cup games and all but one of their Europa League matches, scoring seven goals.
His success also earned him his first Brazil U21 cap last month.
He may even get the opportunity to play for the Italian national team as he also qualifies to represent Italy.
On this possibility he said: ''I'm Brazilian, of course everyone wants to play with that yellow shirt, listen to their people singing. But I can play for Italy too.
''I have nothing decided. Of course I want to play for Brazil, but I haven't defined it yet. It can be one or the other''.
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