Gabriel Martinelli reveals Barcelona rejection

Arsenal teenager Gabriel Martinelli has revealed that Barcelona turned down the chance to sign him before he completed a move to England.

The 18-year-old joined the Gunners from Ituano last summer and has been in impressive form for his London club during the 2019-20 campaign, scoring 10 times in 23 appearances in all competitions.

Martinelli has revealed that he spent time on trial with Barca ahead of a switch to the Emirates Stadium, but the Spanish champions were not interested in signing him.

"Shortly before the Sao Paulo Cup I spent a few days training in Barcelona. I spent 15 days there," the Brazil Under-23 international told Marca.

"Barcelona invited me to train with them in La Masia but afterwards they didn't want to do anything with me, they didn't tell me anything... I went back to Ituano, I played Copinha and then I came to Arsenal."

Martinelli has scored three times in 14 Premier League appearances for Mikel Arteta's side this term, while he contributed three goals and three assists in the group stages of the Europa League.

The teenager also revealed last year that he had trained with Manchester United on four occasions between 2015 and 2017.