Arsenal youngster Gabriel Martinelli has revealed all on his trial at Man Utd and why he didn’t end up plying his trade at Old Trafford instead.
The 18-year-old has enjoyed a positive first season at Arsenal this year, scoring 10 goals and providing four assists in 25 appearances.
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With that in mind, the future certainly looks bright for him, but time will tell if he can kick on and deliver consistently to become a real prominent figure for the Gunners.
It could have been all so different for him though, as he has opened up on his time spent as a trialist for Man Utd and revealed why he never joined them permanently.
“There was a partnership between Ituano and Manchester United which allowed me to go there every year, for four years, to train with boys my age or older,” he told FourFourTwo, as quoted by the Sun.
“That was nice, because I got a first taste of what English football was like. I met Marouane Fellaini, Patrice Evra and Paul Pogba, and made sure I got a photo with all of them.”
Asked why he didn’t join them, Martinelli noted: “They didn’t make an offer, so I returned to Ituano and kept doing my job there.”
Time will tell if things worked out for the best for the talented youngster, as Arsenal and Man Utd continue to battle to get back to the top of the tree both domestically and in Europe.
On the basis of what we’ve seen so far this season though, it has to be said that the Red Devils make look back and think that they made a mistake by not recognising his talent and snapping him up. That said, perhaps his improvement and development only came after, at which point Arsenal decided to make the investment in his future.