Arsenal aren’t going to release Gabriel Martinelli for the Brazil u23s in the Olympic qualification tournament next month, according to reports in Brazil.

Brazil called Martinelli up to their u23 team for the Tenerife Tournament in November, leading to speculation he could feature for his country in the Tokyo Olympics next summer. They then called him up again for the Olympic qualification tournament in January.

Arsenal had the option to block the call-up though. The event falls outside of FIFA’s official international break periods, and it would cause Martinelli to miss up to five senior matches if he went.

Globo Esporte report the Gunners are going to do just that. They aren’t going to release Martinelli for the event, meaning he’ll remain available for the January matches.

We’ll know for sure when the CBF release the final squad list, with the pre-tournament preparation beginning on January 3rd.

Martinelli could well still receive a call-up for the actual Olympics in the summer, if Brazil make it. Arsenal wouldn’t have the same option to block their player in that case, nor much justification to do so anyway.