Arsenal fans were dealt a blow before their FA Cup tie against Newcastle United even started on Saturday night.As the Gunners slowly refind their feet under Mikel Arteta amidst the difficulties of their 2020/21 campaign, one of the biggest positives has been the return of Gabriel Martinelli from injury.The Brazilian prodigy - dubbed the 'talent of the century' by Jurgen Klopp - spent the majority of 2020 on the treatment table after making a promising start to life in the Premier League.
Injury worries for Martinelli
And it seemed as though the Arsenal starlet had picked up from where he left off by marking his return with a strong run of form, including an eye-catching display in the 3-1 win over Chelsea.
However, fresh concern began to gather around Emirates Stadium after Martinelli looked to have suffered his latest injury in the warm-up for the Toon clash.
Footage emerged showing Martinelli tripping up and painfully rolling his ankle, forcing Arteta to withdraw him from the starting XI and introduce Reiss Nelson as his replacement.
Ruled out of the starting XI
Goal's Arsenal correspondent Charles Watts tweeted about the incident, explaining: "Looks like Martinelli has been injured in the warm-up. He's down getting treatment.
"Some sort on ankle injury. He's standing now and is walking off the pitch. Seemed like he was in tears. He's now gone down the tunnel, but was moving pretty well."
It's certainly worrying to hear that Martinelli was seemingly brought to tears and it's understandable when you watch the painful-looking footage which has emerged since - check it out down below:
Sports scientist reacts
Naturally, we hope that Martinelli's knock isn't too serious considering his rotten luck with injuries at Arsenal, but the early signs are promising in light of an optimistic professional opinion.
Sports scientist Dr. Rajpal Brar reacted on Twitter by saying: "Martinelli turned the ankle inwards (inversion ankle sprain); looks relatively mild so not that big of a deal.
"To follow-up: Gabi walking off likely indicates no fracture (look up “Ottawa ankle rules”) and lesser severity. All ankle sprains are painful so initial pain response doesn’t tell us much."
Let's keep our fingers crossed that Brar's revered outlook holds true because it would be a crying shame to see one of the Premier League's finest young talents ruled out through injury once again.