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'Martinelli is different to any other player'

Pablo Mari is yet to play alongside Gabriel Martinelli, but he has seen enough to know that the 18-year-old is "an incredible talent".

The on-loan centre back, who joined us from Flamengo, says there is great excitement back in Brazil at Martinelli's development.

"He has exploded on to the scene and is showing that he’s a great player with a lot of talent," Mari told Arsenal Player. "Obviously he’s still very young, but he’s already had a taste of playing at the top level and he’s doing very well. 

"I’ll say congratulations when I meet him, but now he just needs to keep it up and work hard because he’s really talented.

"Martinelli has shown he is a bit different to any other player in terms of his ability. He has great vision and there’s real talent there in terms of his dribbling and his ability to choose the right play. 

"His decision-making is improving all the time. Martinelli still has a lot more to show but he has incredible talent and I think gradually he’ll keep developing and become a top player."