Martin Odegaard has enjoyed his football since he joined Arsenal. He was also recently named the Norway captain.
It has been a pretty eventful past few weeks for Martin Odegaard.
The 22-year-old joined the Gunners from Real Madrid on loan in January. He moved to the Premier League in search of regular game time and has been rewarded with just that.
Odegaard has impressed for Arsenal in the no.10 role, with his latest impressive display coming with a goal in the north London derby.
It gets better for the highly-rated youngster on the international scene as well. It was perhaps a surprise when Norway boss Stale Solbakken decided on his candidate to replace his current captain, 31-year-old Stefan Johansen.
In the presence of senior and more experienced players, Odegaard was named the Norway captain at the age of 22.
Reflecting on the turn of events, Mikel Arteta says he isn’t surprised and is convinced the Arsenal man will do well in his new role at the national level.
“I’m not surprised after sharing some time with him now,” the Gunners boss said to the club media.
“I’m not surprised at all. He’s got this personality, he’s a really humble and easygoing guy but at the same time, he’s very, very professional and very dedicated. He leads by example, which normally a captain should do.”
“He is getting better and better. I think his understanding of what we want is excellent. His work rate has been phenomenal and then he’s doing something that, in my opinion, could improve a lot which is getting in the opponents’ box and maybe being more decisive in the scoreline.”
“He is doing that with the two goals and he’s had some really important entries into the zones and he looks all the time really dangerous. If he adds that to his game, he becomes a real complete player.”
“I think everybody has been really impressed with how quickly he has adapted. Professionally, how he is and how willing he has been since day one to try to engage with everybody at Colney and then also with the performances that he’s putting in as well.”
“He is more than prepared to take that role [of Norway captain]. I’ve been very positive and impressed with his human qualities as well.”
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