Darren Bent has backed Arsenal striker Gabriel Martinelli to rediscover his best form sooner rather than later.
Martinelli’s best campaign to date came in 2022/23, when he scored 15 goals and provided five assists in 36 Premier League appearances to help Arsenal finish second.
Despite remaining a regular feature in Mikel Arteta’s side, Martinelli has struggled to recreate those sorts of numbers, managing just six goals and four assists in 35 Premier League games last season.
However, the green shoots of recovery seem to be appearing for Martinelli.
Gabriel Martinelli will “fly” to Arsenal soon
The 13-time Brazil international got off to a slow start this season, failing to register a single direct goal in his first four league appearances.
But since then, he’s come alive with two goals and two assists in his last three games, inclusive scoring in each of his last two to help fire Arsenal to six points against Leicester and Southampton.
Arteta hopes this is the start of a rough patch for his forward as a The Gunners are chasing the Premier League title. According to former Tottenham striker Bent, that could be the case.
“That’s the biggest thing, confidence, in any football,” Bent said talkSPORT. “It doesn’t matter where you play, at what level you play, if you don’t have confidence, then your performances will go down.
“And when he scored 15 goals (in 2022/23), it was magnificent. But can you back it up again? Because going two seasons with this amount of goals and these assists is difficult to do.
“He’s working his way back, but you can see the confidence slowly starting to come back. I think by Christmas time, it will absolutely fly.
“His confidence will be flying, the numbers will be there and he will be the Martinelli of old.”
Martinelli will look to continue his recent form when Arsenal travel to Bournemouth after the international break.
Top photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images
