Klopp brands Arsenal starlet Gabriel Martinelli ‘a talent of the century’ after his double against Liverpool
LIVERPOOL boss Jurgen Klopp has hailed Arsenal striker Gabriel Martinelli as the "talent of the century".
The 18-year-old scored twice for the Gunners in their incredible Carabao Cup exit to Liverpool on Wednesday night.
After the two sides were locked at 5-5 after 90 minutes, it was Klopp's team who won 5-4 on a penalty shootout.
But after praising his own 17-year-old centre-half Sepp van den Berg, Klopp was gushing in his praise for Martinelli.
The teenager has now made it seven goals in seven games in all competitions.
Speaking to the Liverpool website Klopp said: "Sepp van den Berg as well, he played an incredible game.
"That’s really difficult to deal with these guys.
TOP-SCORING TEEN IN EUROPE
"Martinelli’s pretty much the same age but he’s a talent of the century, he’s an incredible striker, so it’s really difficult.
"Then you have Mesut Ozil around and Joe Willock right, who scored by the way a really nice one.
"So a team like Arsenal in a counter-attacking mood – we keep them deep, play around them, we lose the ball and then it’s really difficult."
SunSport has reported that Martinelli is now the top-scoring teenager in Europe’s Big Five leagues this season.
Martinelli joined Arsenal from Brazil's Ituano over the summer for a fee believed to be in the region of £6m.
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But his move went under the radar as the Gunners also splashed a club-record £72m on Lille’s Nicolas Pepe.
However, the Ivorian has hit the target just three times this season.
While Martinelli’s brace at Anfield saw him also equal Ian Wright’s record of scoring on each of his first four starts for Arsenal.
