Arsenal’s insiders on forging Gabriel Martinelli’s lethal partnership with Bukayo Saka

The stadium was not much, a municipal bowl an hour outside of Sao Paulo that was rather run-down. And it rained, which was an unpromising start. The team that played was the Under 20s of Ituano, then a fourth division club in Brazil.

But any global soccer scout worth their salt takes part in the Taca Sao Paulo, an Under 20 tournament for the region’s pro teams, every January. Since the city itself has 12 million inhabitants, there is no more fertile agglomeration in the world for young football talent.

Here you have a decent chance of spotting the next 16-year-old Brazilian star. Still, watching Ituano Under 20s is a level of geekery that even the most dedicated scout is usually willing to risk.

But Francis Cagigao, the legendary former Arsenal scout who brought Cesc Fabregas, Robin van Persie and Emi Martinez to the club, has a hunch. An itch that just won’t go away. About a year ago, his Brazilian scout Everton Gushiken had sent him low-quality iPhone footage of a 15- or 16-year-old boy playing for the fourth division youth team. Cagigao had seen something he liked in that player. Gushiken wasn’t 100 percent convinced, but Cagigao told him to keep an eye on the teen.

That’s why Cagigao was at this game. When he settled into the stands in the rain, he was alone. No one noticed that the modest, London-born, middle-aged Spanish man, once an Arsenal youth player, showed an unusual interest.

Call it a scouting instinct, call it intuition or the knowledge gleaned from 30 years of watching teenage players, but Cagigao knew it as soon as he saw Gabriel Martinelli. The 17-year-old hadn’t even played that well against 19-year-olds and was struggling to get into the game.

“He didn’t play the best, Cagigao recalls. He was taken off after 70 minutes. But he had no fear. You could see that, even though he wasn’t doing well. He definitely made the right runs, but was not played in. He had the movement, timing, speed, aggression, tenacity – he wouldn’t be pushed off the ball, even at 17 years old. His technique wasn’t great, but he had qualities you didn’t see in English players. I said, “I like him. Can we let him train for a week?”’

This is Cagigao’s favorite place: a football field away from the crowds, no data analysts feeding him statistics. Just him, a dilapidated stadium, a man and his dog and a future superstar. ‘Pure scouting’, he calls it. There were no statistics.

“Statistics save you time filtering,” Cagigao says. “It means you can make 30 flights a year instead of 200. We had statistics and analysis at Arsenal, but on this deal we didn’t work with statistics. When judging a young, emerging talent, nothing beats the trained eye, a former player or coach with an analytical mind.’

But Cagigao now had a problem. Ituano didn’t want Martinelli to go on a week’s trial at Arsenal, which was odd given that transfer fees from a top European team are normally enough for South American clubs to get their youngsters into the departure hall. Days later, Cagigao learned that Martinelli was instead going to Barcelona for a week-long trial. “I thought I had lost him,” Cagigao says. Wonderfully, from an Arsenal perspective, Martinelli would also spend two separate weeks at Manchester United. They sent him away, just like Barcelona. Cagigao was back on the plane.

He recalled, “I told all my scouts, ‘Put down your pens, I want everyone to watch this boy on video.” I wanted everyone out. Why? Because he was a fourth division Brazilian player!

“I didn’t want people to say, ‘Frannie, you took it out of the bag! What’s going on here?” I wanted to be able to say, “No, I’m not just saying it.”‘ This time it was a two-hour drive to Itu, where Ituano plays. a roof on one stand.You don’t find many world-class footballers here, although Juninho from Middlesbrough is club president and started at the academy, but none of Sao Paulo’s giants had noticed Martinelli.

Except Cagigao was no longer incognito now. Everyone knew why he was there. A friend of Martinelli’s family had made their house available to Cagigao for the meeting with Gabriel and his father, Joao. But when he arrived, Cagigao remembers that there were about 10 other cops and hangers-on in the house. I said “I’m not pulling the trigger if I can’t talk to him alone, I’m going back to London”. Finally, the father and Gabi said, “We’ll talk alone.” And I was blown away. I have never had such a convincing meeting with a player and his family since I met Cesc Fabregas.

“They were brilliant, humble, down-to-earth people. The boy was intelligent, engaging, a good listener. The father said, “Look Fran, it’s Gabi’s life. Gabi better answer the questions. I don’t want him to say I ruined his life.” And Gabi wanted to talk about football, his game. He was a fast learner, which is key these days. The meeting on top of everything else made me think, “This is it!” I walked out and called Raul [Sanllehi, then Arsenal’s chief executive] and said, “I don’t doubt it. This boy is going to be a top player. Let’s sign the god damn it.”’

A fee of £4 million was discussed. By the time Cagigao got back to London it was £6 million. Before the deal was finalized, there was one hoop that Arsenal and Cagigao had to jump through. Around the same time Gushiken had seen 16-year-old Martinelli, Steve Morrow, then in charge of Arsenal’s academy, insisted that Cagigao come and watch his U16 side.

“As part of our due diligence, we always wanted to compare our goals to what we have in the academy,” Morrow said. As such, it was important for international scouts like Cagigao to know who was coming along. “We had two or three, but Bukayo Saka was one of them and I told Fran that I really appreciated this kid and recommended that he not only get a scholarship, but also a professional contract.”

Cagigao said, “Steve said; “We’ve got his great left-back in the team, you’ve got to come down and keep an eye on him, Fran. He’s 15, he’s going to be a winger, but he’s excellent.”

“I remember looking at him and thinking, “Wow! Steve wasn’t wrong about this boy.”’ Morrow added: ‘Bukayo was a quiet, humble boy, but had an inner confidence that you only see in special players. You knew the playing and physical qualities were there. Maybe some coaches looked at him and only saw the physical qualities. But he was so calm in difficult positions that you noticed how confident he was on the left or right foot, and he was able to make good decisions under pressure.’

There were other similarities with Martinelli. “From the start, his personality and character stood out,” said Morrow. His family was humble, their expectations were not sky-high. You know what kind of people you’re dealing with when family talks about education and personal development, other areas than football.’

The Christian faith is central to the family dynamic, and Saka shares how reading the Bible daily has helped him through the World Cup. “He hasn’t changed,” said Morrow, who worked for the FA training young players after Arsenal. “When I was in St George’s Park with England and he joined the team, he came up to me and gave me a big hug.”

Cagigao agreed with Morrow’s analysis. “When a thing like that comes along, all you want to do is tell people, ‘Fuck it up!’ He had natural ability and a great personality.’

Saka’s progress has been surprising. “What may have surprised me was how quickly he progressed when he came to the main training ground at London Colney with the Under 18s,” said Morrow. ‘It often takes some getting used to. U18 players are sometimes asked to train with the first team and it is difficult to adapt to the pace of the game. But he understood that immediately.’

£6 million may seem like pocket change in football, but would they really invest that in an 18-year-old wide player from another continent when they had something so good in their own backyard?

Cagigao was adamant, and they now terrorize the defense on both wings on a weekly basis.