Arsenal news: Gabriel Martinelli to play new role as Mikel Arteta dealt huge injury blow

Mikel Arteta may look to use Gabriel Martinelli differently after the Brazilian’s recent heroics, though the Gunners will now have to make do without an in-form star

Arsenal will receive a momentary respite with Wednesday night’s Carabao Cup third round visit to Port Vale. The Gunners have endured a tough set of fixtures to begin the 2025/26 campaign, already taking on the likes of Manchester United, Liverpool and Manchester City.

Mikel Arteta’s men have not exactly come out of it unscathed, claiming four points from those matches – still second in the Premier League table but five points behind league leaders Liverpool.

The most recent of those clashes was a nail-biting 1-1 draw with Manchester City at the Emirates which Arteta effectively threw the kitchen sink at in terms of his late attacking substitutions.

The cup tie against Port Vale, barring an upset, is expected to be a more straightforward affair and a chance for the Spaniard to freshen his team up by using players that have not been involved much yet this season, such as Myles Lewis, Piero Hincapie and Ben White.

It is also an opportunity to try out new tactics, as Mirror Football takes a look at two big stories surrounding the north Londoners ahead of the fixture.

READ MORE: Noni Madueke injury tests Jamie Carragher’s bold Arsenal statement as Mikel Arteta questionedREAD MORE: Arsenal matches Noni Madueke will miss as huge Mikel Arteta injury blow confirmed

Martinelli’s new role

A significant portion of Arsenal fans had given up on Martinelli until he came off the bench to win the game against Athletic Club last week in the Champions League. Just days later, the apparently struggling Brazilian scored the stoppage time equaliser to salvage a draw against City.

His searing pace against tired opposition proved crucial in both goals, while the latter also displayed a deft touch to chip Gianluigi Donnarumma. And those goals may have just shown Arteta how to best utilise the 24-year-old’s skillset – by employing him as one of his so-called ‘finishers’.

Martinelli for much of the past two seasons has been used as a starter off the left flank. But Arsenal’s slow, possession-based build-up and the highly compact nature of the first 60 minutes of games means the forward has struggled to make an impact.

But according to The Standard, Arteta has this season made the point to his players that ‘finishers’ – those who come off the bench to close out games – can be more important than starters, given the valuable depth and competition now available in the squad.

The term originates from rugby and was coined by Eddie Jones, someone Arteta has openly looked to for inspiration, when he managed England as a way of motivating players who were not starting games. Selection is based on players suiting different periods of a match, with the Brazil international’s explosive speed perhaps meaning we will see more of him late on in games.

Team-mate Declan Rice’s comments post-match last weekend hinted as much, having said: “When you come off the bench, at that point of the game, 60, 70, 80 minutes, the game’s a completely different game to the start of the game.

“The game’s opened up, it’s more stretched. And for players like Gabi, they’re unbelievable when they do start, but when they come on, their strength, which is their pace, their dribbling, helps them massively because there’s so much space.”

Gunners suffer Madueke setback

Just as Bukayo Saka returned to the squad to face City, Arsenal were dealt a huge blow when his in-form replacement and England team-mate Noni Madueke had to be taken off at half time. The 23-year-old winger played (well) through discomfort in the first half, having picked up an issue early in the match.

After undergoing scans on Monday, it was reported that £48.5million summer arrival Madueke will miss two months of action, with his return expected in November. Madueke’s issue is just the latest in a long list of injuries to Arteta’s side early in the season, with Saka, Ben White, Martin Odegaard, Kai Havertz and Christian Norgaard already missing a significant chunk of the games.

Even more of a blow is that Madueke had hit the ground running since his move from Chelsea and had arguably been the Gunners’ best performer in the first six games of the season. His lengthy absence will likely result in an increase in minutes for 15-year-old wonderkid Max Dowman on the right flank.

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