Arsenal striker Gabriel Martinelli has won a first call to the senior Brazil squad.

The forward, 20, scored his fifth goal of the season in last Sunday's 3-2 victory at Watford with a fine strike from the edge of the area to cap a sublime team move.

He has been operating as a left-winger in recent months in the absence of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who was exiled from the squad before departing for Barcelona on a free transfer in January.

Mikel Arteta singled out "exceptional" Martinelli for praise during his press conference ahead of Sunday's home clash against Leicester.

The Arsenal manager was speaking on the same day the youngster - who won Olympic gold with Brazil Under-23 last summer - was called up to Tite's squad for the first time.

"Well, Gabi is playing in a different position because Auba, certainly in the last few months played as a nine," Arteta said on Friday.

"But Gabi has shown big signs of where he's moving, certainly the capacity that he has to score goals and be a threat in the final third and I think his contribution all round in his game has been exceptional.

"So, I think he totally deserves the amount of minutes that he's been playing."