ARSENAL fans around the world were extremely emotional reading Gabriel Martinelli’s goodbye post on Instagram.
But they all noticed a glaring omission from the Brazilian in his lengthy list of thank-yous following his £60million move to Al-Hilal.
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A snippet of his Instagram statement read: “I found a family that took care of me and watched me grow throughout all these years.
“I can only thank the staff and my teammates. Thank you to the chefs, kit staff, doctors, doormen, security staff, media team, cleaning staff, physios, and every single teammate who has been part of my story from 2019 until today.
“Thank you to everyone who helped me grow during this journey.
“And to the fans, thank you for everything. Since my first day, you made me feel at home.
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“Every time I stepped on the pitch, despite everything, I tried to give everything I had for this shirt.”
After reading the lengthy statement, many of the Emirates faithful realised the Brazilian hadn’t thanked Gunners boss Mikel Arteta or included him in any of his the pictures in his carousel post.
One wrote on X with a picture of the statement: “Martinelli’s farewell post on IG.
“No mention of Arteta and he wasn’t in any of the pictures included.”
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Another said: “Martinelli’s goodbye post and not a single pic with Arteta😭😭.”
And another said: “Martinelli completely ignoring Arteta in his all his farewell posts.”
One remarked: “Nelli didn’t address Arteta. Maybe he counts as “staff members” 😭😂.”
Another chimed in: “Gabriel Martinelli‘s farewell post has over 20 pictures with team mates, coaching staffs and fans.
“Non of which featured MIKEL ARTETA ❌. Seems the relationship was BROKEN 💔.”
Arteta opted not to include Martinelli in his matchday squads for the Gunners’ Prem clashes with Coventry City and Aston Villa or the Community Shield against Manchester City.
Arteta’s treatment of the fan favourite baffled many, including club legend Ian Wright.
Speaking live on Sky Sports at full-time, Wright said: “In respects to Martinelli and the way Martinelli has been treated at the moment it really makes me feel uncomfortable.
“Because he always gives 100 per cent.
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“I’m not saying he’s the greatest; he’s really come up with some big moments for Arsenal, some big games, he’s scored some very important goals…
“The way he’s been treated at the end here, I know they might want him out.
“And there’s a lot of people saying, ‘Yeah, maybe it’s time for him to move on.’
“But there’s ways of doing that and it should suit him as well, how he wants to leave.
“Not being in the squad, not being spoken to, doesn’t know what’s going on, yes, I do know this, again, not being involved in the Community Shield squad, he doesn’t know what’s happening, I think he’s got a year left [on his contract].
“If you bring Vini [Vinicius Junior] in, that kind of level in, Martinelli can say to himself, ‘well, okay, they’ve brought him and Tzolis, I might be third.’
“But if you’re bringing Tzolis in, and he’s looking at Tzolis, you look at Madueke on the other [wing], you’re thinking to yourself, ‘I think I can still have it with these two, I still think I’ve got something to offer here.’
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“For him to be nowhere near it, it makes me feel sad for him.
“I’m just saying I think he’s done enough with this team, with this squad, to be treated with a little bit more respect than he’s being treated at the moment.”