Gabriel Martinelli out for the season

Gabriel Martinelli is out for the season. He underwent a successful arthroscopic procedure to repair a “lesion in the cartilage” of his left knee. I’m not a doctor, but Google tells me that’s a fancy way of saying he had a meniscus tear repaired.

The recovery timetable for meniscus tears varies depending on the severity of the injury. I’m not sure we can glean anything in terms of how long he’s expected to be out from the decision to do the scope because for athletes that’s almost always the treatment. Depending on what arthroscopic procedure he had, he could be out for two months or six months or longer. We just don’t know enough yet. For what it’s worth, Mikel Arteta has said a few times that Martinelli is expected to be out “months.”

Obviously, losing Martinelli for a few months stinks. With Project Restart’s packed run-in schedule, Martintelli definitely would have gotten a good chunk of minutes over the coming weeks. He will also almost certainly miss the start of next season. That’s valuable playing experience missed for him.

And Arsenal will miss his contributions on the pitch. He’s burst onto the scene this season after joining Arsenal from Ituano over the summer, averaging a goal or an assist every 100 minutes on the pitch, and his high workrate fits well with Mikel Arteta’s pressing system. Hopefully, he makes a full, quick recovery and is back in the lineup soon.