Arsenal fans fear for Gabriel Martinelli after Leandro Trossard cameo in Man Utd victory

Trossard replaced Martinelli with just eight minutes remaining at the Emirates Stadium and turned plenty of heads with his energetic approach, driving runs and impressive quality on the ball. A number of Arsenal fans on social media have since insisted that Trossard will have every chance of forcing Martinelli onto the bench if he continues on the same trajectory despite initially being considered by many as a backup option upon his arrival in north London last week.

@AFC_Capt was among those to have been pleasantly surprised by Trossard’s performance and tweeted: “That Trossard cameo has truly rocked my world, surely he slots straight into our starting 11 next game?” @TheAfcSquare, meanwhile, echoed a similar sentiment by adding: “I think he will bench Martinelli soon.”

“Martinelli on the bench incoming soon,” predicted @marcatore_puro, while @Mtu_Bossman said: “Trossard can play, he might bench Martinelli because I think Martinelli has lost some lustre. I still think Martinelli has a lot to learn, especially from Trossard.”

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Some fans chose to dig out Martinelli by insisting that he needs to offer more in order to keep his place in Arsenal’s starting line-up ahead of Trossard, with @dsesay_ warning: “Martinelli needs to improve his game or make friends with the bench. Hasn’t been great last couple games.”

However, others were not entirely convinced by the cries of their fellow fans and decided to stick by Martinelli in spite of Trossard’s eye-catching debut on Sunday. @Abimberry said: “Loool Martinelli is starting the next match. If [Mikel] Arteta had listened to most of you at the beginning of the season, [Bukayo] Saka would be on the bench.”

It remains to be seen whether Trossard will be able to force his way into a first-choice berth for Arsenal over the coming weeks, with the 28-year-old likely to get another chance to impress against Manchester City in the fourth round of the FA Cup on Friday night. He was hailed after the final whistle on Sunday by Arteta, who spoke highly of the Belgium international and incoming defender Jakub Kiwior in his post-match interview with Sky Sports.

“Just in terms of numbers we had 15 or 16 outfield players and obviously it wasn’t enough, they are going to help us,” said the Arsenal boss. “Leo already helped us a lot, today he showed how composed, how calm and how confident he was when he came on the pitch and he helped us win the game.”