Arsenal star now leads squad in amazing stat, only Mesut Ozil and Cesc Fabregas are better

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Arsenal star Martin Odegaard has been outstanding in recent months as one of the Premier League’s best midfielders.

The 25-year-old was criticised at the start of the season, but in recent weeks has arguably been Arsenal’s best performer, and he capped off an excellent recent run with a truly amazing performance in last week’s 6-0 victory at West Ham, notching up two assists.

Odegaard’s skill and creativity set him apart from everyone else, and the Arsenal captain is one of Mikel Arteta’s most important players.

The Norweigan plays in a position where Arsenal have had a lot of world-class players over the years, but he ranks highly amongst players past and present for his creativity.

Martin Odegaard’s incredible creativity

BEIN Sports have now highlighted that Odegaard creates a chance in the Premier League every 37 minutes, which is the best ratio out of any current Arsenal player.

Since data started being recorded in 2003, only two Gunners have had a better record than Odegaard in this metric: Mesut Ozil and Cesc Fabregas.

Fabregas ranks just above Odegaard as he created a chance in every 32 minutes of action, whilst Ozil was top, with an astonishing 27 minutes per chance created during his time in the Premier League.

How does Odegaard compare to Ozil and Fabregas?

Comparisons between Odegaard and his two Arsenal predecessors may be slightly unfair. Odegaard arrived at the Emirates as a struggling wonderkid from Real Madrid aiming to prove himself.

Fabregas arrived as a teenager but quickly became a key player, and eventually became a World Cup winner at the very top level of the game prior to his move to Barcelona.

Ozil also arrived from Real Madrid, but unlike Odegaard, he was a key player at the Santiago Bernabeu, and he also won the World Cup, as one of the best attacking midfielders of his generation.

Odegaard certainly has world-class potential, and is arguably at that level already. He is an excellent midfielder and captain for Arsenal, but the 25-year-old has a long way to go before he can be considered in the same bracket of greatness as two icons of the game.

Arsenal have had incredibly technical midfielders such as Dennis Bergkamp and Santi Cazorla over the years, and were desperately lacking in one before Odegaard arrived in 2021. He has been a revelation in this side, and will be key to any silverware Mikel Arteta’s side wins this season.