Barcelona are ruing the decision not to sign Brazilian youngster Gabriel Martinelli following his fast start to life at Arsenal.
The £6million summer signing has already scored seven times in nine games in all competitions for Arsenal and has impressed so much that Unai Emery has promoted him to his first-team plans.
Martinelli was in Barcelona’s sight before he joined Arsenal but the La Liga side never pressed ahead with a deal for him.
The 18-year-old – who signed for the Gunners from Brazilian outfit Ituano for £6million in July – has been a revelation at the Emirates following his arrival.
Martinelli – who featured for Brazil’s U23s in their 1-0 win against America yesterday – has banged in seven goals in nine games in all competitions for the North Londoners.
According to Mundo Deportivo, Barcelona were very aware of Martinelli and actually invited the striker to train with one of their youth teams on one occasion.
The Spanish publication claim there is a feeling of frustration at the club now after they failed to act on their intuition.
Barcelona have watched Martinelli’s quick progression from afar and will continue to monitor him closely as they see him a possible future target.Manchester United were another club to snub the teenage starlet despite Martinelli training with the Red Devils four times between 2015-2017.
And the forward even spent time with Barcelona’s prestigious La Masia earlier this year, but the Catalan club decided against making a move.They add that Barca chiefs are upset that they failed to act on their intuition over Martinelli.
The Daily Mail state that the Spanish side are monitoring the striker as they identify him as a possible target in the future.
Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp hailed Martinelli as a “talent of the century” after he netted twice against the Reds in the thrilling Carabao Cup clash at Anfield last month.