Pires sees a lot of himself in the Brazil attacker.
"Gabriel Martinelli looks like me. He looks like me because he can dribble, he scores and he is fast," he told Carre.
"He makes good decisions, he plays simple when he needs to play simple and he goes for the challenge when he is faced with the challenge. When he sees he's one-on-one, he plays for the team and I like that.
"I know him a little, he is well educated and he is doing well at Arsenal."