{"id":1991,"date":"2026-04-03T18:49:46","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T18:49:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/?p=1991"},"modified":"2026-04-03T18:49:46","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T18:49:46","slug":"gabriel-jesus-says-benchwarmer-is-arsenals-best-player-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/?p=1991","title":{"rendered":"Gabriel Jesus says benchwarmer is Arsenal\u2019s best player"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p data-start=\"0\" data-end=\"360\"><span class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"><span class=\"whitespace-normal\">Gabriel Martinelli<\/span><\/span>  has found game time increasingly limited at <span class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"><span class=\"whitespace-normal\">Arsenal<\/span><\/span>with other players now appearing ahead of him in the pecking order at the Emirates. This situation has led to growing speculation regarding his future, with some reports suggesting that the Brazilian could be sold at the end of the season.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"362\" data-end=\"682\">Despite this, <span class=\"hover:entity-accent entity-underline inline cursor-pointer align-baseline\"><span class=\"whitespace-normal\">Gabriel Jesus<\/span><\/span>  has expressed strong admiration for his teammate, even describing him as the best player at the club. Jesus himself has also struggled for consistent minutes since returning from a serious long-term injury, leaving both players in uncertain positions within the squad.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"684\" data-end=\"1055\">Arsenal are open to offers for certain players as they continue to refine their team, making it difficult to firmly place either Martinelli or Jesus among the club\u2019s most indispensable figures at this stage. While the Gunners remain committed to strengthening their squad, questions persist over whether Martinelli is still considered a key part of their long-term plans.<\/p>\n<h2 data-section-id=\"181me03\" data-start=\"1057\" data-end=\"1091\">Uncertain Roles At The Emirates<\/h2>\n<p data-start=\"1093\" data-end=\"1381\">Both players are facing increased competition for places, which has impacted their involvement on the pitch. For Martinelli, reduced playing time highlights the challenges he faces in reclaiming a regular starting role, while Jesus continues to work his way back to full fitness and form.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1383\" data-end=\"1641\">Arsenal\u2019s focus on improvement means difficult decisions may be required, particularly if suitable offers arrive. The club\u2019s priority is to maintain a competitive squad, and that may involve parting ways with players who are no longer central to their plans.<\/p>\n<h2 data-section-id=\"1g23kvx\" data-start=\"1643\" data-end=\"1679\">Jesus Praises Martinelli\u2019s Talent<\/h2>\n<p data-start=\"1681\" data-end=\"1882\">As reported by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=dY5PDPOhpk8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Romario TV<\/a>Jesus spoke highly of Martinelli, stating, \u201cThere are a few, but I think I\u2019ll go with Martinelli. I first saw him, funny enough, during the 2019 Copa America preparation.<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"1884\" data-end=\"2077\">\u2018I think it was 2019, the national team always calls up young players from the youth teams to come and train with us, right? There was a good young left winger. I said, \u2018Wow, what a good kid\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"2079\" data-end=\"2226\" data-is-last-node=\"\" data-is-only-node=\"\">While Martinelli remains a talented forward, his lack of consistent game time suggests that he is currently not among the leading stars at Arsenal.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Gabriel Martinelli has found game time increasingly limited at Arsenalwith other players now appearing ahead of him in the pecking order at the Emirates. This situation has led to growing speculation regarding his future, with some reports suggesting that the Brazilian could be sold at the end of the season. Despite this, Gabriel Jesus has [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1992,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1991","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arsenal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1991","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1991"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1991\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1992"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportings.com.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}