Transfer News: David James backs Liverpool to sign Gabriel Martinelli ahead of Raphinha
In conversation with ggrecon as quoted by Liverpool Echo, former England goalkeeper David James has told Liverpool to pursue Gabriel Martinelli ahead of Leeds talisman Raphinha. The former Manchester City goalkeeper didn’t shy away from waxing lyrical about the 20-year-old rival player.
James enjoyed a fruitful playing career, making 572 appearances in the Premier League across different clubs to date. The former English professional also played a major chunk of his career with the Reds making 277 appearances across all competitions for them, recording 104 clean sheets in the process.
The former West ham United shot-stopper now dorns the role of a football pundit giving key insights about the game. He also had a brief playing spell in the Indian Super League with the Kerala Blasters, most recently.
The 51-year-old made some glowing admissions about Martinelli who has been slowly cementing himself as a dependable option at Arsenal. The Brazilian shows great determination and work ethic both on and off the ball which has made him a pivotal figure for the Gunners.
James shed light on his belief that the Merseysiders should make a move for the Arsenal forward ahead of the 25-year-old Brazilian. Given the impact Martinelli has had at Arsenal, the quotes make perfect sense.
“Gabriel Martinelli is one player who I get excited by. If it was a choice between Martinelli and Raphinha, I would go for Martinelli. He’s young and he’s got everything you need. It’s almost like a slightly rawer [Luis] Diaz, and the beauty of Diaz is that he can play basically anywhere. Martinelli obviously occupies the left a lot more. I always think that with a good environment and age, you can manipulate a player into something else, and I think Martinelli fits that criteria. He’s young and more than capable. And I can imagine him in a Liverpool kit, doing what he does with Arsenal, if not better, and just fitting in seamlessly.”
Martinelli to Anfield?
The possibility of this transfer taking place seems really preposterous at the moment taking into consideration the heated rivalry that exists between Arsenal and Liverpool. That being said, players have in the past made moves to their arch-rivals in hope of better prospects. Let us thus take a look at what the young Brazilian attacker brings to the game
At 20, Martinelli has already made 74 senior appearances for the North Londoners to date, bagging 17 goals and recording 10 assists in the process. He has slowly started to take his game to the next level with each match and developed well under the tutelage of Mikel Arteta showing great hunger and desire to get on the ball and take on opposition defenders.
Jurgen Klopp is no stranger to his abilities on the ball, even going as far as to call him the “talent of the century” after his men took on the Gunners in a match in October 2019. This shows how highly our German boss rates the youngster.
While there have been links between Raphinha and Liverpool, securing a deal for Sporting CP seems like a tougher task with each passing day. The Leeds United star has been on the radar of several clubs and has been heavily linked to Barcelona.
As things stand it seems highly unlikely that the Reds will be able to land the 25-year-old. The Reds have recently pivoted to a trend of purchasing younger players and developing them to fit into the current project at Anfield.
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Martinelli perfectly fits this bill but making any move for him certainly won’t be an easy one considering his affiliation to the Emirates outfit. At 20, the Arsenal player could potentially have some of his best footballing years ahead of him which could be a tempting advantage for any club that is genuinely interested in him at the moment.
Whilst David James and Klopp have clearly shown their admiration for the youngster, it remains to be seen whether or not the club will pursue him in the future.
