Gabriel Martinelli has been called up by the Brazil u23s for the Tenerife Tournament in November, ahead of the Olympics next summer.

LONDON, ENGLAND - SEPTEMBER 24: Gabriel Martinelli of Arsenal celebrates scoring the fifth goal during the Carabao Cup Third Round match between Arsenal and Nottingham Forest at Emirates Stadium on September 24, 2019, in London, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND – SEPTEMBER 24: Gabriel Martinelli of Arsenal celebrates scoring the fifth goal during the Carabao Cup Third Round match between Arsenal and Nottingham Forest at Emirates Stadium on September 24, 2019, in London, England. (Photo by Julian Finney/Getty Images)

Brazil confirmed on Friday that Martinelli had joined the list of call-ups for the Tenerife Tournament next month. The Arsenal teenager’s home country will join the USA, Argentina and Chile at the event.

The matches will take place over the international break between 14th and 17th of November. Given the location of the matches at Estadio Gran Canaria, this shouldn’t be too disruptive for the youngster.

What could end up being more of a problem is Martinelli’s potential future participation in the CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament and the actual Olympics in Tokyo next summer.

The Pre-Olympic Tournament takes place in Colombia between 18th January and 9th February 2020. The top two teams from the event qualify for the Olympics.

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If Martinelli features in the qualification tournament, he could miss up to four Premier League matches, the FA Cup fourth round and the Carabao Cup semi-final second leg. If he then travels to Tokyo it would mean a disrupted pre-season.

All the same, it’s great to see an 18-year-old Arsenal player making such an impression on his home country. In all honesty, the club should have a squad with the capacity to manage without one teenager for a few games. It’s their own fault if they don’t.

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