Gabriel Martinelli lauded his former team-mate Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Picture: Getty)
Gabriel Martinelli says it will ‘stay with him forever’ how former captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang welcomed him at Arsenal.
The duo were team-mates until Aubameyang’s high-profile falling out with boss Mikel Arteta, with the striker stripped of the club’s captaincy and eventually leaving the club by mutual consent after Arsenal paid him to leave.
Aubameyang then spent six months at Barcelona before returning to England this summer by joining Chelsea.
Martinelli moved to north London in 2019, just a year after Aubameyang, and has spoken about the time the Gabon international welcomed him to the Emirates.
‘I remember that I went to lunch, there was, for example, where I was afraid because I didn’t speak English,’ Martinelli told The Players’ Tribune.
‘I would think ‘Imagine if someone sat next to me and talked to me, what would I say?’
‘I was embarrassed right, because the person speaks, you want to speak but you can’t. I sat down to eat then Auba arrived, I thought ‘now what?’
‘Then he sat down next to me and started talking to me in Spanish. A good guy, I think that moment… I was very nervous.
‘Like for him it was something normal, maybe he doesn’t even remember this but for me, arriving at the club now, Auba coming to talk to you, sitting at the table with you, it was something that will stay with me forever.’
Aubameyang has struggled at Chelsea since his return to London, scoring just three goals across 12 games in all competitions.
Martinelli has impressed for Arsenal this season, with the Brazil international registering five goals and two assists across 14 Premier League games.
The Gunners are top of the league and five points clear with the 2022-23 campaign now on hold for the World Cup in Qatar, which gets started on Sunday.
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‘It was something that will stay with me forever…’
