Chelsea are monitoring Arsenal star Gabriel Martinelli after their impressive start to the season, according to reports.
Arsenal are currently sitting top of the Premier League after the first eight games - winning seven, losing one - ahead of Manchester City, Tottenham Hotspur, Brighton & Hove Albion and Chelsea.
Mikel Arteta’s side beat Spurs 3-1 in the North London derby on Saturday afternoon and their attack is showing no signs of slowing up following the summer arrival of Gabriel Jesus from Manchester City.
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Jesus has been supported by the likes of Martinelli, Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard, with Martinelli netting three goals and providing one assists in eight league appearances this term.
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Arsenal have scored 20 goals this season already, while Chelsea have recorded 50 per cent of that figure, netting ten in their first seven games.
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This comes despite Chelsea having an array of attacking quality at their disposal, including the summer signings of Raheem Sterling and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Aubameyang netted on his league debut for the Blues during their 2-1 win over Crystal Palace at the weekend.
Following Martinelli’s impressive start to the season, he has attracted interest from several clubs, including Chelsea.
As reported by Sami Mokbel of the Daily Mail, there have been ‘admiring glances’ at Martinelli from Arsenal’s top-four rivals in recent months.
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Martinelli’s current deal runs until 2024, with the option of a further year, and Arsenal have made attempts to tie him down for even longer.
His admission to ESPN Brazil of: "If I can, I’ll stay here my whole life. I want to conquer things, as I said, I want to stay here and win titles, with these wonderful fans, my teammates,” will give the Gunners a welcome boost amid interest from their Premier League rivals.
Arteta has been full of praise for the 21-year-old, adding: "When he wasn't playing, he was all the time in my office and every time showing me on the pitch how wrong I was.
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"And, (from) the moment that we agreed that he was ready to do it, the way he has improved, the way he is helping the team and still the room for improvement he has is phenomenal."
Chelsea’s attack is jam-packed and following the pre-contract agreement with RB Leipzig’s Christopher Nkunku, offloading will surely need to happen before any other new attacking arrivals are thought about.
They have Hakim Ziyech and Christian Pulisic on their books, while Callum Hudson-Odoi is currently out on loan at Bayer Leverkusen for the season.
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READ MORE: Chelsea handed huge boost for Wolves clash after Premier League suspension confirmed
Topics: Gabriel Martinelli, Chelsea, Arsenal, Football, Premier League
Matthew Debono