Arsenal Forward Gabriel Martinelli Signs Contract Extension

Arsenal's Gabriel Martinelli kicks the ball during the English Premier League match between Arsenal and Manchester United at Emirates stadium in London, Sunday, Jan. 22, 2023. (AP)
Arsenal's Gabriel Martinelli kicks the ball during the English Premier League match between Arsenal and Manchester United at Emirates stadium in London, Sunday, Jan. 22, 2023. (AP)
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Arsenal Forward Gabriel Martinelli Signs Contract Extension

Arsenal's Gabriel Martinelli kicks the ball during the English Premier League match between Arsenal and Manchester United at Emirates stadium in London, Sunday, Jan. 22, 2023. (AP)
Arsenal's Gabriel Martinelli kicks the ball during the English Premier League match between Arsenal and Manchester United at Emirates stadium in London, Sunday, Jan. 22, 2023. (AP)

Arsenal forward Gabriel Martinelli has signed a “long-term” contract extension, the Premier League leaders said Friday.

The 21-year-old Brazil international has scored seven goals this season to boost Arsenal's title bid in his fourth season in north London.

The club did not specify the length of the deal but manager Mikel Arteta called it “a new long-term contract.”

“Gabi is still very young, so we know there's still much more to come from him and it's great that we'll be on this journey together,” Arteta said in the club's announcement.

Martinelli was not quoted in the announcement.

The forward has started all 19 league games this season. He has made 111 appearances in his Arsenal career since signing from Sao Paulo club Ituano in July 2019.



Amorim is 'Very Excited' about where 14th-place Man United Can Go in 2025

Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim reacts at the end of the English Premier League match between Manchester United and Newcastle United in Manchester, Britain, 30 December 2024. EPA/ADAM VAUGHAN
Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim reacts at the end of the English Premier League match between Manchester United and Newcastle United in Manchester, Britain, 30 December 2024. EPA/ADAM VAUGHAN
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Amorim is 'Very Excited' about where 14th-place Man United Can Go in 2025

Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim reacts at the end of the English Premier League match between Manchester United and Newcastle United in Manchester, Britain, 30 December 2024. EPA/ADAM VAUGHAN
Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim reacts at the end of the English Premier League match between Manchester United and Newcastle United in Manchester, Britain, 30 December 2024. EPA/ADAM VAUGHAN

Despite his team entering 2025 in 14th place in the Premier League, Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim is “very excited” about the year ahead.
United’s 2-0 home defeat to Newcastle on Monday saw it suffer five league losses in the same calendar month for the first time since September 1962, and a fourth straight reverse in all competitions means the Red Devils have lost six of their last eight.
But in a message posted on his club's official X account on New Year’s Eve, Amorim wrote: “I know it will take a lot of hard work from everyone to get there, but I am very excited about where we can go together in 2025.”
Amorim is yet to halt the alarming slide which led to Erik ten Hag’s dismissal in October, and his team is seven points above the drop zone with increasing talk of a relegation fight, including by Amorim himself who has called it “a possibility.”
But the Portuguese says he's determined to press on with the 3-4-3 system despite the difficulties United’s squad has had in adapting, The Associated Press reported.
“Of course I didn’t choose the players specifically for these positions but that I already knew,” he said. “But I understand they have a lot of difficulties because they spend two years playing one way and then they are playing another."
Amorim did not have the benefit of a pre-season to implement such a major change to United’s tactical model, and admitted that is having a significant impact.
“I think the players are losing everything, the small things that we try to work on in training," Amorim said. "After one goal they lose everything because we don’t have the base, we don’t have time to build the base to cope with the difficult moments so it’s really hard in this moment.”
United has the toughest of starts to 2025 when it travels to play league leader Liverpool on Sunday in what is widely considered English soccer’s fiercest rivalry.