Ian Wright criticizes Arsenal for Martinelli's treatment

Arsenal opened their Premier League title defence with a clean, clinical 3-0 win over Coventry City on Friday night. Inside the Emirates, it felt like business as usual: Bukayo Saka curling one in, Kai Havertz on the scoresheet, Martin Odegaard dictating everything.

Outside of the matchday glow, though, one name dominated the post-game conversation.

Gabriel Martinelli wasn’t just on the bench. He wasn’t in the squad at all.

And Ian Wright is furious about it.

Wright: “It makes me feel uncomfortable”

The Brazilian, 25, has entered the final year of his contract and Arsenal are actively looking to move him on before the transfer window shuts. He was also left out of the Community Shield squad for the win over Manchester City last Sunday.

For Wright, that’s where the football story ends and the human story begins.

“In respects to Martinelli and the way Martinelli has been treated at the moment it really makes me feel uncomfortable,” he told Sky Sports after the Coventry game.

He didn’t dress it up. He didn’t soften it.

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

That was the crux of Wright’s anger: not the decision to sell, but the way it is being handled.

Frozen out and “left in the dark”

Martinelli is not short of interest. Galatasaray tested Arsenal’s resolve with a £38 million bid last week. The winger, though, has made it clear he does not want to move to the Turkish league.

Right now, his situation at Arsenal looks even less appealing.

Wright claims the forward has been “left in the dark” over what comes next.

“Not being in the squad, not being spoken to, doesn’t know what’s going on, yes, I do know this, 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],” Wright said.

For a player who has spent years throwing himself into every press, every sprint, every lost cause in an Arsenal shirt, that silence stings.

“He’s done enough to be treated with more respect”

Wright then drew a sharp contrast between the calibre of winger who might justifiably push Martinelli down the pecking order and the current picture.

“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]’, 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’s where Wright’s frustration sharpened. In his eyes, Martinelli should at least be in the fight.

“For him to be nowhere near it, it makes me feel sad for him.

“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.”

Arsenal’s night on the pitch was simple: three goals, three points, a statement start to a title defence.

Off the pitch, their handling of one of their most wholehearted performers has opened up a very different kind of debate.