MARTINELLI GETS NEW NO. 11 JERSEY TO FOLLOW LEGENDS' FOOTSTEPS

Arsenal have had some great players wear their No.11 – Marc Overmars, Robin van Persie, Mesut Ozil, just to name a few. And you can now add Gabriel Martinelli to that list, after the Brazilian was handed the 11 shirt for the 2022/23 season. And he will wear a new number on his back. The winger, who has worn number 35 since he arrived in north London from Ituano in 2019, showed off his new shirt number when unveiling the Arsenal kit for the upcoming season.

As well as Overmars, Van Persie and Ozil, the likes of Kevin Campbell, Sylvain Wiltord, and talkSPORT’s very own Invincible Ray Parlour have worn the 11 shirt. More recently, Lucas Torreira donned the number for two seasons, whilst Martin Odegaard was given it during his loan spell with the Gunners, before his move was made permanent at the start of the season and he was given the No.8 jersey.

Martinelli will hope he doesn’t join the less successful names that have worn the No.11 in recent times, with Andre Santos and then-youngster Carlos Vela sporting the shirt for a year. Van Persie isn’t the most liked No.11 the north Londoners have ever had, after leaving for Manchester United. They will be hoping Martinelli doesn’t leave them to join their rivals, or fall completely out of form like Ozil did
It seems unlikely that that will be the case after the 20-year-old’s recent performances, which led to him ending the season with five goals and five assists in the Premier League. With his current contract expiring in 2024, there have been talks of Arsenal handing him a new long-term deal which would extend his stay in north London. And if them handing him the No.11 is anything to go by, reports he might get a new deal might have legs.