Ian Wright gives Arsenal a unique opportunity that they need to take advantage of
Arsenal beat Coventry on the opening day of the Premier League season, but a number of the headlines after the game were about an off-field issue.
Indeed, speaking on Sky Sports after the match, Ian Wright shared his verdict on Gabriel Martinelli’s current plight.
Martinelli has been left out of Arsenal’s last two matchday squads, and, by the looks of things, he may not have a future at the Emirates.
However, frustratingly, according to Wright, nobody has spoken to Martinelli about this situation.
“The way Gabriel Martinelli is being treated is making me feel uncomfortable. He always gives 100 percent. We’re not saying he’s the greatest, he’s scored some important goals. The way he’s being treated at the end there and I know they might want him out but there’s ways of doing that and it should suit him as well,” Wright said.
“He’s not being spoken to, he doesn’t know what’s going on – I know this. I know this is going on. Not being involved tonight or last week. Look, if you bring in Vini then Martinelli might say ‘Well I might be third here’ but looking at Madueke on the other side he might be feeling I can be there.
“I just feel like he’s done enough in this squad with this team to be treated with a little bit more respect than he’s been treated with at the moment.”
Wright has clearly been in touch with Martinelli about this situation, and seemingly has a clearer understanding of what’s going on than many within the club.
This isn’t the first time Wright has acted as an unofficial spokesperson for an Arsenal player – earlier this week he shared what is actually going on with Myles Lewis-Skelly amid bafflement after he was reportedly offered to Chelsea and Manchester United.
Meanwhile, Wright is also known to be close with the likes of Bukayo Saka and Eberechi Eze.
The Arsenal legend is a one-of-a-kind figure in football. He’s a club legend who also acts as a trusted figure for players to come to and discuss their careers, their issues or their struggles with.
Other top-level clubs quite simply don’t have this type of figure – Gary Neville’s ties with Manchester United’s squad have been strained over the years – he was even stunned when Marcus Rashford hosted his birthday party at China White in Manchester, a venue minutes from his house – while Jamie Carragher and Mo Salah had a pretty public spat last season at Liverpool.
Now, that isn’t supposed to be a pointed dig, it’s not on Carragher or Neville to play the role Wright does at Arsenal – they were also on punditry on Friday night so make for easy comparisons, but, seemingly there’s no club legend filling that gap, be it Steven Gerrard, Graeme Souness, Roy Keane or Wayne Rooney.
Meanwhile, Arsenal do have this unique figure in Ian Wright who seems to have cultivated relationships that are very rare in football, and that’s something Arsenal should take advantage of.
Whether it’s hiring Wright in some sort of ‘official’ capacity in a player liaison type role, organising fortnightly or monthly chats with Mikel Arteta or even just acting as a conduit between players and backroom staff to iron out any issues in a respectful, open manner, there has to be a role for Wright at the club – if he’s not already doing all of this behind-the-scenes.
Simply put, there isn’t another figure in football like Ian Wright. A club legend that players can properly trust, and that honest line of communication between Wright and the Arsenal squad is something that those higher-up should use to their advantage.
We’re sure Martinelli and Arteta will have had a chat today after Wright’s comments – but that perhaps would have been more useful if those comments were not shared on Sky Sports and instead were quietly communicated internally – avoiding any sort of media circus.
