Arsenal column: Berta, the future of Gunnerstar, etc., to accelerate contract talks, etc.

What’s next for Gabriel Martinelli after Eberechi Eze’s signature?

Given the quiet start of the season and the arrival of Ebeki Eze, there has been a lot of talk about Gabriel Martinelli recently.

Martinelli has been a mainstay on Mikel Arteta’s side for the past few years, but there’s no doubt that his position on the team is as threatened as ever.

Currently, there is serious competition on the left, and Martinelli’s struggle for consistency over the past few seasons has seen a major dropout in terms of his level of contribution.

His goals have dried up and now he really looks like a player with a lack of conviction and confidence.

Many fans believe that an upgrade is required on the left side of the attack, and although Eze is another profile of Martinelli’s player, its position on the left side certainly looks his best route to Xi on his best route.

This is a big season for Martinelli, and it is a season that is extremely impressive in terms of where his future lies.

There was talk of him leaving in the summer, but I don’t think it will really happen. Arsenal would have taken a big offer to consider selling, and it never arrived.

There was some interest from Saudi Arabia, but I don’t think it was a move that was interested in Martinelli at this point in his career.

I think Arsenal’s stance on potential sales, especially in the summer, could change for next summer, especially if Martinelli has an even more frustrating season.

He left a two-year deal by that point, and as Arsenal needs to sell some in the near future, the Brazilians were able to find themselves heading ahead of the line.

Arsenal plan to accelerate contract talks with Star Duo

With the transfer window closed, Arsenal’s priorities are to accelerate contract talks with Bukayosaka and William Saliba.

Andrea Berta did a good job of updating after arriving as sports director when Gabriel Magalges, Ethan Nuwaneri and Miles Lewis Skelly were all writing new long-term deals.

But perhaps the two most important updates have not yet been agreed. Both Saka and Saliba are now in the final two years of their current contract.

There has been talks going on between both the player and Arsenal for a while, and the discussion has been on track and I am sure both will leave their future to the North London Club.

Before the last pen was put on paper in 2023, they were complicated and both Saka and Saliba were in the final year of previous transactions, so it was hard to say for certain when these transactions would be agreed.

My hope at Arsenal is that neither negotiation will drag on as long as the noise around this time and around Saka is certainly very positive.

Berta has been on his plate since he arrived, but he now has a little time to really tackle both the updates and I’m sure Arsenal will soon be making progress.

Can Mikel Merino replicate his Spanish form for Arsenal?

Several Arsenal players caught their eye during the international break, but nothing more than Mikel Merino.

It was an extraordinary hat-trick for Spain, who won 6-0 in Türkiye. All the finishes were great, and it perfectly showed us his impressive ability to find nets when in and around penalty areas.

We obviously saw it when he played the makeshift strike role at Arsenal.

I think he is an underrated player and he has received a lot of unfair criticism. Many people mistakenly see him as a defensive player and saw it in response to including him in his start XI at Anfield before an international break.

Like everyone else, I would have hoped to see someone like Ebebeki Eze start against Liverpool. Playing Declan Rice and Martin Zubimendi with Merino felt like a conservative option in terms of creativity from the middle, but there’s no doubt that he offers a serious goal threat. He’s just very calm when he sniffs the chance.

When it comes to Arsenal, his biggest problem is that he doesn’t make it clear exactly what type of player he is in terms of the system played by Mikel Arteta.

When he was chosen in the middle, it’s rare for him to drift into the kind of space where we can get the chance to see him finish very well against Turkey.

So, if Arteta wants to make the most of him, he will have to find a role to give him a little more freedom in the box.

Realistically, I’ve never really seen it happen unless he’s used to being a striker, but if everyone is healthy, I don’t really see Merino being the regular starter on this team.

Arteta appreciates him so much that he will get a lot of minutes, but with the exception of the injured spiker, I haven’t seen him start playing too many games.

But he’s a really useful team player and I don’t think he’s ever seen his end play in advance for Arsenal. He could be a really good option when he still needs it.

Christian Mosquera deserves to run on the side while William Saliba is out

Of course, the absence of William Saliba is a blow. He is one of the best centre-backs in the world and, in my opinion, is part of the best centre-back partnership in the world.

So, he wants to be always fit and available, especially at this stage in the season when Arsenal has many tricky early fixtures to navigate.

I’ve seen reports from France about possible absences for 3-4 weeks due to an ankle issue he raised against Liverpool, but it’s not something I’ve confirmed with me yet, so I still don’t know if that time frame is correct.

So we’ll see what happens and how quickly he recovers. Mikel Arteta has no doubts about the situation at this Friday press conference.

The important thing when Arsenal is without Saliba is that they have so much strength in the depth of defence that they have given themselves the best chance to deal with missing such a key player.

Christian Mosquera may be young, but he has a lot of top-level experience and when he came to Anfield, he saw how defender he was. He handled the situation very well and honestly, he hasn’t even made a mistake since he arrived at the club.

If Saliba misses the next few games, I think Mosquera will replace him. It was that he was signed and Arteta showed at Anfield that he had full faith in the former Valencia man.

Of course there are other options. The hope is that Ben White will come back from his injury against Nottingham Forest this weekend and he can play there. You can also play Ricardo Calafiori if you like.

But I don’t see it happening. Mosquera has already shown his abilities since his arrival in the summer, and I am sure Arteta is happy to run to him with a leader like Gabriel.