Gabriel Martinelli praised his former teammate Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Image: Getty)

Gabriel Martinelli says it will “stay with him forever” as former captain Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang welcomed him to Arsenal.

The duo were teammates until Aubameyang got into a high-profile row with boss Mikel Arteta, which saw the striker stripped of the club’s captaincy and eventually left the club by mutual consent after Arsenal paid him to leave.

Aubameyang then spent six months at Barcelona before returning to England this summer to join Chelsea.

Martinelli moved to north London in 2019, just a year after Aubameyang, and talked about it when the Gabonese international welcomed him to the Emirates.

“For example, I remember being scared at lunch because I didn’t speak English,” Martinelli told The Players’ Tribune.

“I would think, ‘Imagine someone sitting next to me and talking to me, what would I say?’

“I was immediately embarrassed because the person speaks, you want to talk but you can’t. When Auba arrived, I sat down to eat and thought, ‘What now?’

Then he sat down next to me and started talking to me in Spanish. A good guy I think, at the time… I was very nervous.

“Like it was normal for him, maybe he doesn’t even remember, but for me, arriving at the club now, Auba coming over to talk to you, sitting at the table with you was something that stayed with me forever. ‘

Aubameyang has struggled at Chelsea since returning to London, scoring just three goals in 12 appearances in all competitions.

Martinelli has impressed Arsenal this season with five goals and two assists in 14 Premier League appearances.

The Gunners are at the top of the league and are five points clear as the 2022/23 season is now on hold for the World Cup in Qatar which starts on Sunday.