“I believe by Christmas, he’ll be absolutely flying” - Darren Bent insists 23-year-old Arsenal star will regain old confidence and shine soon

Former Tottenham Hotspur striker and talkSPORT pundit Darren Bent has predicted that Arsenal ace Gabriel Martinelli will regain his form by Christmas. He spoke highly of Martinelli and believes he is on the verge of getting back to his best.

Arsenal are currently having a good time as a team this season. However, the same cannot be said of Gabriel Martinelli, as the 23-year-old winger has suffered a dip in form.

Prior to Arsenal's 2-2 draw with Manchester City in the Premier League on September 22, Martinelli was on a goal-contribution drought. He didn't score a goal or provide an assist in 17 consecutive games. Due to his poor run of form, Darren Bent urged Mikel Arteta not to include him in the starting XI against the Cityzens.

Meanwhile, Martinelli is gradually regaining his form, having made goal contributions in the last three Premier League games for the Gunners. He scored his first goals of the season in consecutive league matches against Leicester City and Southampton. These impressive displays seem to have made Bent change his thoughts about the player's form. He told talkSPORT:

''That’s the biggest thing – confidence – in any football. It doesn’t matter where you play, what level you play, if you haven’t got the confidence, then your performances are going to drop. And when he hit 15 [goals in 2022/23], he was magnificent. But can you back it up again? Because to go two seasons with those amount of goals and those amount of assists is difficult to do.

''He is working his way back, but you can see the confidence now slowly starting to come back. I believe by Christmas time, he will be absolutely flying. His confidence will be flying, the numbers will be there, and it will be the Martinelli of old.''

So far this season, Martinelli has scored two goals and provided two assists for the Gunners in 10 appearances across competitions.

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Gabriel Martinelli says he's happy to be back to scoring goals for Arsenal

After Arsenal's 3-1 victory against newly promoted side Southampton in the Premier League on October 5, Martinelli expressed his excitement to score his second goal of the season. He told the club's website after the match:

“I’m really happy, really confident now and just trying to play my football again,” he said post-match. “[Arteta said] go there, control the game and try to take the game to the final third and create chances for us.

“It was a tough one, we showed our qualities. I think we did really well, we won the game so really happy. We have the international now we have to go there and try to stay fit and think about the upcoming games. We’re ready and can’t wait until the Premier League is back again.”

Arsenal will next be in action against Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium in the league on September 19 after the international break.