How Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard returned to prove he’s ‘one of the best in the world’ | OneFootball

As the saying goes, you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone, and that was certainly the case for Arsenal with Martin Odegaard.

That the Norway international is important to the Gunners is no secret. He is, after all, their club captain and a player who cost them almost £35m back in August 2021.

Since then, Odegaard has been steadily brilliant for Arsenal but sometimes, that can lead to a player being underappreciated. However, during his 12-game absence due to an ankle injury earlier this season, Arsenal’s campaign was very nearly derailed following some dreadful results.

Following Odegaard’s return, Arsenal have taken four points from two Premier League games against Chelsea (1-1) and Nottingham Forest (3-0), while they thrashed Sporting CP 5-1 away in the Champions League at a venue where Manchester City recently lost 4-1.

It only takes a brief look into the stats to see just how different Arsenal are without Odegaard. For example, in the six Premier League and Champions League games where Odegaard has played more than one minute this season, Arsenal have averaged 2.33 goals scored and 11.5 chances per match, compared to just 1.36 goals scored and 10.18 chances created per match without him.

Within the same time frames, Arsenal’s goals scored from open play rises to 1.83 per match with Odegaard compared to 0.82 without him, while their through-balls attempted are up at 2.83 per match with him, compared to 1.36 without him.

In just 505 minutes of Premier League and Champions League football this season, Odegaard has created 17 chances, registered two assists and attempted nine through-balls, completing three of them. The former Real Madrid man sees passes others don’t and gives Arsenal a creative outlet nobody else in Mikel Arteta’s squad is capable of — from all areas of the pitch.

Odegaard’s influence on fortunes in North London has not gone unnoticed by his teammates either.

“It is a bit different [when he is here] as he is one of the best players in the world,” said William Saliba following the battering of Sporting CP — in which Odegaard created two chances, won a penalty and won five of his nine contested ground duels.

Saliba added: “We are so happy to have him back. We are better with him, I hope he doesn’t get injured again. We have to enjoy playing with him. You can see we are better with him.

“He is a top professional, so he worked hard at the training ground. I’m not surprised that he came back like this but it is not easy when you haven’t played for four weeks to come back at this level. He is a top professional.

“[For me, he is] top three [in the world]! I don’t want to pressure him too much. I think top three. I love this guy.”

Arsenal have a big run coming up that could define their season, both domestically and on the continent, with their most difficult games on paper coming at home to Manchester United and Monaco.

Odegaard appears to have wasted no time getting back up to speed and if he can continue to replicate his current numbers and performances, Arsenal may emerge from the busy festive period right on the coattails of Liverpool, who lead the Premier League and Champions League tables.