‘He’s the only one’: Owen Hargreaves says Arsenal’s £6m player can do something Bukayo Saka can’t

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Owen Hargreaves has been discussing Gabriel Martinelli after his standout performance against Newcastle at the weekend.

Speaking on Premier League Productions, Hargreaves was full of praise for the Brazilian winger, stating that he’s the only player within the Arsenal squad who can run the length of the pitch on his own.

Indeed, Hargreaves says that while Saka is a fantastic dribbler, he’s different to Martinelli in that he’s all about close control and beating his man, while Martinelli has the ability to push and run and take out a whole defence with his pace.

Martinelli is one of a kind

Hargreaves had nothing but good things to say about the £6m winger.

“To be fair, we said about Odegaard, but he (Martinelli) is the only one in the Arsenal team who can carry the ball on his own that length of the pitch. Saka is different, Saka gets you off balance and he drops the shoulder. I love Martinelli, I love how direct he is, and what he does is he forces the issue,” Hargreaves said.

Unique

Hargreaves is spot on, Martinelli is the only player at Arsenal who can make these sorts of runs, and, in all honesty, he’s one of the only players in the Premier League who can do it as well.

Of course, the likes of Adama Traore and Dan James could run the length of the pitch with their pace, but their end-product means that their direct runs often result in absolutely nothing, while Martinelli has the dribbling ability to move quickly while also being in control of what is happening with the ball.

The only other players in the league we can envisage doing this are Mohamed Salah and Luis Diaz.

Martinelli is genuinely one of the best dribblers in the Premier League at the moment, and there may not be another player in the league who can break away in the way he can.