Middlesbrough will always regret losing £6m Brazilian to Arsenal recommended by Juninho | OneFootball

Gabriel Martinelli was recommended to Boro by "The Little Fella" before Arsenal later swooped in the summer of 2019.

Gabriel Martinelli has been shining for Arsenal since his 2019 transfer to The Emirates, but if things had gone differently, he could have signed for Middlesbrough instead.

Boro have seen their fair share of star players slip through their transfer net over the years.

Ronaldinho, Diego Forlán, Dwight Yorke, Emile Heskey and Patrick Kluivert; quite the five-a-side team, all of whom either rejected moves to Middlesbrough, saw potential deals collapse or were the subject of bids from the Teessiders.

In more recent years, due to the club largely being rooted to Championship football, those big-name near misses haven't been as prevalent, but that isn't to say they've disappeared completely.

One of Boro's latest and biggest transfer 'what if's?' came in 2019, when thanks to the help of a figure who is worshiped on the streets of Middlesbrough, they almost bagged themselves a future Premier League and international star.

Juninho recommends Gabriel Martinelli to Middlesbrough

The 2018/19 season was Boro's second campaign back in the Championship, having suffered an immediate relegation from the top flight in the 2016/17 season.

A summer of largely careless parachute payment-funded spending by Garry Monk in 2017 had already begun to set the club back financially, and it cost him his job in December of that same year too. He would be replaced by the highly experienced Tony Pulis.

After losing out in the play-off semi-finals to Aston Villa that season, there was a real sense of optimism around the Riverside Stadium that 2018/19 could see the club go one better, and retake their place in the Premier League once again.

Come March 2019, Pulis' side were firmly in the mix for a play-off spot, but scouting departments are always looking to the future, and Boro's had been handed a recommendation from the club's greatest ever player, Juninho, about one of Brazil's most exciting young wingers.

"The Little Fella" is the president of Brazilian club Ituano, and on their books at the time was a 17-year-old Martinelli, and if Middlesbrough wanted him, they'd have to move quickly.

Leeds United, Manchester United and Arsenal were all in the conversation for his signature too, as word began to spread of the teenager's talent.

Martinelli goes on to become Premier League and international superstar

Ultimately, Boro would be muscled out of any potential deal, as Arsenal landed his signature in the 2019 summer transfer window for a reported £6m.

Middlesbrough would go on to finish seventh in the Championship in 2018/19, and despite a handful of close calls, they have been unable to climb out of the second tier since.

As for Martinelli, on the other hand, it's probably safe to assume that he doesn't regret the decision he made that summer, as ever since his move to The Emirates, he's been establishing himself as one of the best wingers in England, and indeed, world football.

A star player for both Arsenal and Brazil, Martinelli is one of the most recognisable players in the sport, and will no doubt carry a hefty price-tag should any club wish to prize him away from The Gunners at some point.

How Middlesbrough's fortunes, both on and off the pitch, may have changed had they signed him all those years ago.