Ian Wright Criticizes Arsenal for Martinelli Exclusion

Arsenal’s season opened with a statement win. A 3-0 cruise against Coventry City, goals from Bukayo Saka, Kai Havertz and Martin Odegaard, the Emirates in full voice, the champions looking sharp.

But one name hung over the night. Gabriel Martinelli. Nowhere to be seen.

The Brazilian was not just on the bench. He was out of the squad entirely, for the second game running, as Arsenal press ahead with plans to sell him before the transfer window closes. For Ian Wright, watching on from the Sky Sports studio, the decision cut through the glow of the result.

“It really makes me feel uncomfortable,” Wright said after the final whistle, his frustration aimed squarely at how Arsenal and Mikel Arteta are handling the 25-year-old’s situation.

A title defence begins, but one omission dominates

On the pitch, Arsenal did almost everything right. Saka struck to settle any early nerves, Havertz added another, and Odegaard wrapped up a convincing victory over Frank Lampard’s newly promoted side. It was as routine a start to a title defence as Arteta could have asked for.

Off the pitch, though, the Martinelli saga is growing louder.

The winger, who has just a year left on his contract, was also left out of the squad for the Community Shield win over Manchester City the previous Sunday. No injury, no cameo, no late introduction. Just absent.

Arsenal received a £38 million offer from Galatasaray last week, but Martinelli has told the club he does not want to move to the Turkish league. With no agreement in place and no clarity on his next step, he now finds himself frozen out at a club where he has delivered key goals and big performances.

Wright believes that is where the line has been crossed.

Wright: ‘He doesn’t know what’s going on’

“Martinelli always gives 100 per cent,” Wright insisted. “I’m not saying he’s the greatest, but he’s really come up with some big moments for Arsenal, some big games, he’s scored some very important goals.”

That history, in Wright’s eyes, demands better treatment than total exclusion and silence.

“The way he’s been treated at the end here, I know they might want him out, and there’s a lot of people saying, ‘yeah, maybe it’s time for him to move on’, but there’s ways of doing that and it should suit him as well, how he wants to leave,” Wright said.

“Not being in the squad, not being spoken to, doesn’t know what’s going on… again, not being involved in the Community Shield squad, he doesn’t know what’s happening. I think he’s got a year left [on his contract].”

For a player still in his mid-20s, who has pushed through injuries and form dips to contribute in crucial moments, that uncertainty feels brutal. Wright made it clear this is not about sentiment, but about respect.

‘For him to be nowhere near it…’

Arsenal are expected to strengthen their wide options, and Wright acknowledged that competition is part of elite football. He even drew a sharp contrast to underline his point.

“If you bring Vini [Vinicius Junior] in, that kind of level in, Martinelli can say to himself, ‘well, okay, they’ve brought him and Tzolis, I might be third [choice]’,” Wright argued.

“But if you’re bringing Tzolis in, and he’s looking at Tzolis, you look at Madueke on the other [wing], you’re thinking to yourself, ‘I think I can still have it with these two, I still think I’ve got something to offer here’.”

That is where Wright’s sadness creeps in. Competition he understands. Being discarded without explanation, he does not.

“For him to be nowhere near it, it makes me feel sad for him,” he said. “I’m just saying I think he’s done enough with this team, with this squad, to be treated with a little bit more respect than he’s being treated at the moment.”

A clean win, a messy situation

Arsenal’s 3-0 victory over Coventry was clean, controlled and ruthless. Their handling of Martinelli is anything but.

The club look set on moving him on. The player does not want the move that is currently on the table. The manager is leaving him out entirely. And one of Arsenal’s greatest strikers is publicly calling out the process.

The points are on the board. The title defence is up and running. But unless something changes quickly, the story around Arsenal’s wide positions this month may not be about who comes in.

It may be about how, and why, Gabriel Martinelli is being pushed out.