Mikel Arteta has admitted a minor injury could see Gabriel Martinelli miss Arsenal’s Monday night clash with Crystal Palace.
The 20-year-old last featured in last month’s 3-0 Carabao Cup victory over AFC Wimbledon and has appeared four times in total for the first team this season.
When asked about the Brazilian’s game time in his pre-match press conference, Arteta said: “Because of the amount of players that we have in those positions. First of all, he had some games that he played against Brentford and Chelsea and he started another game.
“Unfortunately he got injured last week. It’s a minor injury, and we don’t know if he’s going to be available for Monday. But we have a lot of trust with Gabi and we need to find the right space for him to grow within the squad.”
When asked if a loan would be possible in January, he added: “No, I am very happy with him, we are not thinking about anything like that.”
