Gabriel Martinelli never scored a Premier League hat-trick for Arsenal, but he already has one to his name in the Saudi Pro League for Al Hilal.

Arsenal’s record sale opened his account for Al Hilal on Saturday in the 18th minute of what became a 6-0 win over Al Taawoun. Latching onto a loose ball after a headed clearance by an opposition defender, Martinelli showed sharp instincts to stab the ball home and into the bottom corner.

But Martinelli, who only scored once in the Premier League last season despite being part of a title-winning side, wasn’t finished there.

Just before half time, he was sent through by fellow Premier League export Ollie Watkins, before sitting down the last defender as he cut inside to finish with his left foot.

And Martinelli completed his hat-trick five minutes into the second half with a tap-in after a low cross by the other familiar face in the Al Hilal attack, Crysencio Summerville.

If you were counting up Martinelli’s last three goals in the Premier League, you’d have to go as far back as April 2025. It took him 50 minutes of his third Al Hilal appearance to score his third Saudi Pro League goal.

This is the second hat-trick of Martinelli’s career. He also got one in last season’s FA Cup third round win for Arsenal against Portsmouth, which made his all competitions goal tally look better, but never before had he scored three times in a single league game.

Of course, the standard in the Saudi Pro League is considerably lower than the Premier League. A front three of Martinelli, Watkins and Summerville almost feels like a cheat code over there.

Indeed, Watkins himself scored a brace and made two assists, which means he now has five goal contributions from four games since leaving Aston Villa.

Al Hilal are top of the Saudi Pro League after seven games, with six wins and one defeat so far giving them a one-point advantage over Al Ittihad and two over defending champions Al Nassr.

The most goals Martinelli has scored in a single league season, incidentally, was 15 in the 2022-23 Premier League campaign. You can imagine him smashing that if he keeps this up.