Mikel Arteta has revealed that Gabriel Martinelli pushed himself to return ahead of schedule so he could face Manchester City.

Gabriel Martinelli scored the winning goal for Arsenal against Manchester City on Sunday, but there were serious doubts in the weeks leading up to the game over whether he’d even be involved.

The winger had picked up an injury scoring a disallowed goal against Everton in September, missing the next few weeks of football.

That must have been a major disappointment for the 22-year-old, missing the north London derby and Arsenal’s opening two Champions League group stage games.

According to Mikel Arteta, the club also expected Martinelli to miss the game against Manchester City, returning after the international break. But the Brazilian international had other ideas.

“He’s been saying for a few weeks that I was going to be there for City,” Arteta said. “Obviously, we were saying that Gabi it would be too early for you, and yesterday he said, boss I told you, I’m going to be ready for this.

“And it happened after 30 minutes that Leo felt something in his hamstring. So, when I turned around, he was already ready to go with his kit, and saying ‘Boss, I’m ready to go’.

“He’s just got the joy of a kid, his mentality is incredible at his age, and it’s just a joy to have him because today he could change the game and he was really helpful for us to win.”

After Martinelli’s goal against Everton was ruled out for a very unfortunate offside involving Eddie Nketiah, his effort against Manchester City ended up being his first of the new Premier League season.

The youngster had provided assists in the wins over Nottingham Forest and Manchester United, but after his 15-goal campaign in 2022/23, it’s good to get him off the mark for this year too.

After a rest over the international break, Martinelli should now be available to face Chelsea and Sevilla in Arsenal’s first games back.