Arsenal star Gabriel Martinelli has team-mates on his side, following his brutal freeze-out from manager Mikel Arteta.

According to a new report, the Brazilian's imminent exit from North London after seven years has caused “discomfort” in the Emirates Stadium dressing room – and that Arsenal stars have shown “plenty of sympathy” for their colleague.

While ESPN Brazil reports that Martinelli is understandably upset about the situation, The Mirror has revealed that this could be a wider problem at London Colney, with team-mates backing the 25-year-old.

Arsenal are currently pursuing Julian Alvarez as a late signing in the closing days of the transfer window, though FourFourTwo understands that the move is difficult, with the Argentine currently not favouring a transfer back to England.

Martinelli, meanwhile, is on the cusp of a move to Al Hilal, having rejected a move to Galatasaray, having not featured in either of Arsenal's first two games of the season.

The winger last featured in an Arsenal squad in pre-season, seeing himself dropped for the Community Shield in Cardiff before Arteta again left him out of his matchday squad against Coventry City, as the champions began their title defence.

In both fixtures so far, new signing Christos Tzolis has started on the left wing for Arsenal, with Eberechi Eze replacing him last Friday night against the Championship winners in a comfortable 3-0 win.

Martinelli made the move to North London in 2019 under former manager Unai Emery, but established himself as a regular under Arteta during the club's resurgence up the table.

Having scored 15 league goals in 2022/23, it looked like the Brazilian would push on and develop further – but Martinelli has stagnated somewhat and last term only put up a single strike in the club's first league win in 22 years.

This is not the first time that Arteta has frozen out a player or shown a cold side when trying to move on a star: not only were one-time record signings Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Mesut Ozil omitted from the squad before having their contracts terminated, goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale was dropped in favour of David Raya, in a move that felt controversial at the time.

Despite Arteta insisting that both Ramsdale and Raya were competing for the same spot, the England international made just two appearances in the league in his final season – both against Brentford when the on-loan Raya was cup-tied.

FourFourTwo understands that Arteta still has the overwhelming support and backing from all of his squad, with no suggestion or hint of any kind of dressing room mutiny.

Martinelli is worth €45m, according to Transfermarkt. Arsenal face Aston Villa when Premier League action continues next weekend.

Mark White is the Digital Content Editor at FourFourTwo. During his time on the brand, Mark has written three cover features on Mikel Arteta, Martin Odegaard and the Invincibles, and has written pieces on subjects ranging from Sir Bobby Robson’s time at Barcelona to the career of Robinho. An encyclopedia of football trivia and collector of shirts, he first joined the team back in 2020 as a staff writer.