A FAN says he bought two tickets for an Arsenal match — and found they were given free to Gunners star Gabriel Martinelli.
Nathan Shaw, 51, paid £350 for the pair of tickets clearly marked “Player Complimentary”.
Arsenal insiders said Gunners star Gabriel Martinelli had not applied to use the tickets[/caption]
They were for seats in the away end for his team’s 2-0 win at Leicester on Saturday.
He said that after buying them, he was called by a club official saying they were originally allocated to injured £180,000-per-week Brazilian striker Martinelli, 23.
But last night, Arsenal insiders said Martinelli had not applied to use the tickets.
They were put in a central pot and redistributed to a contractor who asked for some. Sales manager Nathan, from Hawkhurst, Kent, snapped the tickets up from website Livefootballtickets for £175 each.
He had failed to get two of the 3,200 seats in the away end for himself and pal Cillian Oliver when Arsenal sold out their allocation of the £30 tickets.
Nathan, who has a season ticket for home games, got a message from the site telling him to pick up the tickets at a collection point at Leicester’s ground before the match, and to bring ID.
The message named a club worker.
Our source said the contractor had given the tickets to a pal who sold them to the site.
Nathan said: “I was delighted to get tickets but stunned when I picked them up and they were clearly complimentary ones given to a player.
“I got a call as well before the game, and the guy told me they were Martinelli’s.
“I don’t blame Martinelli and suspect he might have just not used them and someone else has sold them on. I doubt he needs the money.”
There is no suggestion of any wrongdoing by Martinelli, who did not travel to the Midlands.
Arsenal and the site were approached for comment.
