Gabriel Martinelli has labelled Mikel Merino as "R9" after scoring Arsenal's winner against Chelsea on Sunday.
Merino was the match-winner for the Gunners after finding the net in the 23rd minute. The Spaniard, who joined Arsenal from Real Sociedad for £30million last summer, headed Martin Odegaard's cross into the bottom corner. It was a clever finish from Merino, who now has five Premier League goals this season.
The 28-year-old led the line once again for Mikel Arteta's side. He has been used as the No.9 for the last six matches across all competitions following Kai Havertz's season-ending hamstring injury.
Merino scored twice after coming on from the bench as a striker against Leicester City last month, and Arteta has decided to play him there ever since. Some felt that Martinelli's return to fitness could end Merino's stint up front, but Arteta has continued to use the ex-Newcastle man up there.
Martinelli, who was recalled to the Premier League starting XI on Sunday after over a month out injured, started alongside Merino in the front three against Chelsea, and it's safe to say he was impressed with his teammate.
In fact, Martinelli even went as far as comparing Merino to Brazil legend Ronaldo. Considered as one of the greatest players of all-time, Ronaldo won the Ballon d'Or twice during an illustrious career. He played for the likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid and Inter Milan, scoring 418 goals in 616 matches before retiring in 2011.
Commenting on Merino's Instagram post, Martinelli said: "R9." Riccardo Calafiori and Jurrien Timber were among the others to comment on Merino's post, as he reflected on another memorable afternoon in an Arsenal shirt.
Arteta, meanwhile, was delighted with Merino's latest performance. He said: "We know that, that was the emergency situation that we are in at the moment but the way he's approaching it is incredible.
"He wants to understand everything, he wants to learn from it, he's very critical of himself all the time and at the end the reality is that he's winning football matches for us, which is incredible. He's never played in that position before in his life."
On Merino scoring some important goals, Arteta added: "Yeah and the value of it, it's a big match and at the end you win the game because of that goal. He had another big chance that almost put him back on the net, so very happy with his contribution."