When Arsenal spent £6m on a relatively unknown Brazilian forward by the name of Gabriel Martinelli back in July of 2019, many supporters at The Emirates must have been wondering why Raul Sanllehi had committed such an amount on the signing of a largely inexperienced – albeit promising – player.
However, while it is undeniable that Gunners supporters and Sanllehi did not exactly see eye to eye for the majority of his spell as the club’s head of football, it must be said that the 56-year-old very much hit the jackpot when bringing the winger to north London a little over three years ago.
Indeed, after taking two seasons to find his feet in England, the 21-year-old well and truly exploded over his 29 Premier League appearances last time out, scoring six goals, registering six assists and creating five big chances for his teammates, in addition to taking an average of 1.8 shots, making 1.2 key passes and completing 1.6 dribbles per game.
These returns saw the £90k-per-week talent average an extremely impressive SofaScore match rating of 6.93, ranking him as Mikel Arteta’s eighth-best performer in the top flight of English football in 2021/22.
However, over his seven league fixtures so far this season, the winger has taken his game to a new level, having already bagged three goals and created three big chances for his side, as well as taking an average of 3.0 shots – 1.3 of which have hit the target – made 2.3 key passes – the most of any Arsenal player – and completed 2.3 dribbles – the second-most in Arteta’s squad – per game.
These metrics have seen the Brazil international average a simply sensational SofaScore match rating of 7.30, not only ranking him as the Gunners’ third-best performer in the league but also as the joint 24th-best player in the Premier League as a whole – with the youngster playing a key role in Arsenal’s current top-of-the-table standing.
As such, while Martinelli’s returns on the pitch alone are enough to justify Sanllehi’s £6m move for the attacker back in 2019, the fact that the player who Jurgen Klopp dubbed the “talent of the century”, “unbelievable” and a “proper threat” now boasts a market valuation of £63m – an extraordinary 950% increase on his initial cost – well and truly proves how the former Arsenal head of football hit the jackpot on the Brazilian.