Gabriel Martinelli achieved something in 2019 that no Arsenal player has done since

Gabriel Martinelli has completed his £60million switch to Al-Hilal.

The Brazilian leaves North London as a Premier League champion after a seven-year stint.

Martinelli made 278 appearances for the Gunners and contributed to 98 goals.

Fans are split on the decision to move him on, but ultimately, for a club that has generally struggled to sell players, this is a great deal for Arsenal.

Seeing as Martinelli joined from Ituano as an 18-year-old, his sale goes down as pure profit on the accounting books.

And the manner in which he arrived makes his story even more remarkable.

No Arsenal player has repeated what Gabriel Martinelli did when he joined

As Arsenal Youth expert Jeorge Bird pointed out on X, Martinelli achieved something in the summer of 2019 that no Arsenal player has managed since.

He joined the club as an academy player and was then promoted to the first team in the same summer.

That’s quite the rare feat.

Unai Emery had seen enough of him in the pre-season he arrived to throw him straight in with the seniors.

Although he was raw and unpolished, his energy and determination to score goals made it impossible to keep him waiting.

In his first season at the Emirates, Martinelli racked up an impressive 10 goals across all competitions as a teenager — one less than he managed last season.

Could Andria Bartishvili look to repeat that next summer? The highly rated 17-year-old will join Arsenal next summer when he turns 18, and if the hype is anything to go by, could be fast-tracked straight to the first team.

As for Martinelli, it’s sad to see him leave, especially so now a penalty clause in his Al Hilal contract clouds his return to the top level.

But it’s been a remarkable journey, and he goes down as an Arsenal great.