"He's the special one" - Arsenal star Oleksandr Zinchenko names teammate who has surprised him the most

Arsenal left-back Oleksandr Zinchenko has revealed that his team-mate Gabriel Martinelli has impressed him the most since joining the north London outfit from Manchester City earlier this summer.

Martinelli, who joined the Gunners from Brazilian outfit Ituano for £6 million in the summer of 2019, has grown by leaps and bounds over the past couple of years. The 21-year-old has cemented his place as a first-team starter on the left flank over Emile Smith Rowe.

Known for his pace and directness, Martinelli registered 14 goal contributions in just 15 starts across all competitions in his debut campaign.

Due to an untimely knee injury, he fell out of the picture for a while. But since last November, he has been a mainstay in manager Mikel Arteta's plans.

During the 2021-22 season, he netted six goals and contributed as many assists in 1864 minutes of Premier League action.

Speaking to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano on Twitch, Zinchenko heaped praise on the promising Brazilian forward. He said:

"Gabriel Martinelli. He's the special one. Remember his name."

Martinelli has opened his 2022-23 Premier League campaign on a positive note, scoring three goals in five outings so far. He recently scored the winner in Arsenal's 2-1 home win over Aston Villa on August 31.

After the contest, he told the club's website:

"I'm so happy with the goal and the team performance. I think I got the ball wide. I played it to [Takehiro] Tomiyasu, he played it to Bukayo [Saka]. He crossed and I was there. I just tried to put it in and it worked."

Arsenal, who are currently atop the Premier League standings, will next lock horns with Manchester United at Old Trafford on September 4.

Arsenal set to be without two midfielders 'for a while' due to injuries

Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has confirmed that midfielders Thomas Partey and Mohamed Elneny are set to spend time on the sidelines.

When asked about Partey, the Spaniard said (via Football London):

"He's going to be out for a while. I don't know how long that period is going to be. It's not the first injury he had in that area, so the recovery is more for the doctors to put the timeline and see how he evolves."

As for Elneny's situation, he added:

"That's not good news. We still need to see another specialist, but I'm afraid that we're gonna lose Mo for a while."

In the absence of the pair, Granit Xhaka and Albert Sambi Lokonga started for the north London outfit against Aston Villa.