GABRIEL MARTINELLI has revealed Chelsea midfielder Jorginho made a cheeky approach in an attempt to switch his international allegiances from Brazil to Italy.
But the Arsenal forward has declared he never entertained the possibility of representing anyone but the South American nation.
Arsenal forward Gabriel Martinelli has been called up to Brazil’s squad for their upcoming World Cup qualifiers Credit: Getty
Martinelli has revealed that Jorginho approached him about switching allegiances from Brazil to Italy Credit: Getty Martinelli, who was born and raised in Brazil, qualifies to play for the Azzurri through his father.
Despite the 20-year-old holding an Italian passport, he insisted last year it is his dream to feature for Brazil.
And that could happen this month with Martinelli receiving a first call up to Tite’s Selecao squad for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Chile and Bolivia.
Brazil will be hoping to tie down the exciting forward, who was part of their squad that won the Olympic gold medal in Tokyo last year.
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Vieira heading to Prem hall of fame, Jovic talks, Saka deal latest The 2019 Copa America winners have lost out on a number of players in recent years to Italy – including Chelsea duo Jorginho and Emerson Palmieri.
And Martinelli has stated that Jorginho attempted to convince him to swap Brazil for the Euro 2020 champions.
Speaking to Globo Esporte, the youngster revealed that no-one from the Italian FA approached him about switching allegiances.
He said: “No-one spoke to me, only Jorginho once said to me, ‘I hope to see you in March’, something like that, but no-one [official] spoke to me, no.”
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Before adding: “As I’ve said before, my dream was always to play for Brazil. I was just waiting for the opportunity to play for Brazil.
“I still had hope, I was doing my best at Arsenal, doing my job to dig an opportunity.
“Thank God the opportunity came, I’ll try to make the best of it.”
Martinelli also believes that Arsenal are on the cusp of greatness and will be fighting for the Champions League in the future.
He remarked: “We have a [big] future ahead of us, if we keep this team, we can fight for titles in the following seasons, we will fight for that.
“This season we will fight for fourth place, to go to the Champions League, and then fight for the Champions League.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
