As a football club, Arsenal have been utterly transformed over the last few years.
Gone are the days of struggling to break into the top four, as the only objective Mikel Arteta and his side have in the Premier League these days is to win it.
However, it's not just on the pitch where the Gunners have dramatically improved, as their work in the transfer market is practically unrecognisable from four or five years ago, both in terms of incomings and outgoings.
For example, a player the club let go for a pittance in 2018 has been outscoring Gabriel Martinelli over the last season or so.
Martinelli's recent form
So, while there were a lot of issues with Arsenal's transfer policy during the mid-to-late 2010s, a signing who's been an unequivocal success from that period is Martinelli.
The Brazilian dynamo joined the North Londoners from Ituano for just £6m in 2019, and since then, he has made 177 appearances for the club, in which he has scored 41 goals and provided 24 assists, equating to a reasonably impressive average of a goal involvement once every 2.72 games.
That said, it was in the 22/23 campaign that the Guarulhos-born gem really stepped up a level and showed the rest of the league that he has the raw ability to become something special, scoring 15 goals and providing six assists in 46 matches, meaning he maintained an incredible average of a goal involvement every 2.19 games.
However, while the talented winger looked unreal two years ago, he struggled to have the same impact last season and ended the campaign with just eight goals and five assists in 44 appearances, equating to an underwhelming average of a goal involvement once every 3.38 games.
In fact, Martinelli was actually outscored and outperformed by a former Arsenal flop last season.
Joel Campbell's recent form
Yes, the former Arsenal flop in question is Costa Rican icon Joel Campbell.
He joined Arsenal from Saprissa in 2011 for a fee believed to be around £1m, although issues with his work permit prevented him from making his debut until the 2014 Community Shield.
The talented attacker made only 40 appearances for the Gunners before leaving in 2018 to join Italian outfit Frosinone for around £1m. However, the last six years saw him move all over the world and play for teams in Mexico, Brazil, and his home country.
However, while he has been a bit of a footballing nomad since leaving North London, he has been impressive in spells, particularly last season with Costa Rican side LD Alajuelense.
In fact, as mentioned above, the former Arsenal ace outscored Martinelli last season. In his 56 appearances for the club, he scored 16 goals and provided seven assists, meaning he managed to maintain an average of a goal involvement once every 2.30 games.
Appearances
44
56
5
Goals
8
16
2
Assists
5
7
0
Goal Involvements per Match
0.29
0.41
0.40
Moreover, he then joined Brazilian outfit Atlético-GO towards the end of the campaign, where he scored two goals in five matches and has remained on loan for this upcoming season, where he'll no doubt maintain his electric form.
Ultimately, while Campbell failed to make an impact at Arsenal, he has since gone on to have a brilliant career back in Central and South America, and even though he's outscored Martinelli of late, we doubt that there will be too many fans looking to bring him back.
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3 ByJack Salveson HolmesSep 6, 2024