Arsenal told they have a player who is ‘truly’ way more important than Martin Odegaard now

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Arsenal have a truly brilliant squad right now packed full of top-class talent.

Declan Rice is a world-class player, while Viktor Gyokeres looks very exciting already after signing for the club.

However, over the past few years, Arsenal have had two players who are more important than any others.

Indeed, Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard have been the beating heart of this Arsenal team in recent times.

Sadly, both players went down injured against Leeds on Saturday, sparking some concern at the Emirates.

Nigel Reo-Coker, speaking on the Football Daily Podcast, has been discussing this situation, and in doing so, he’s made an interesting claim about the pair.

Bukayo Saka is more important than Martin Odegaard

Reo-Coker claimed that Saka is actually the more important of the two players after their respective injuries.

The pundit says that he over-exaggerated Odegaard’s performances in recent years, noting that it is actually Saka who is the more important player at Arsenal.

“It’s a bit of a worry, because obviously you talk about the creative element and the real threat. We know for me, I would say Saka is Mr. Arsenal,” Reo-Coker said.

“There was an element of me a year back that I probably over-exaggerated the importance of Odegaard and how good he is to Arsenal and this and that, but really and truly it was Saka that’s the more influential player.

“When you look at those two players going missing, there is a worry about creativity. Where is this real creativity going to come from?

“But obviously, luckily, they’ve just signed Eze. For me, he’s a special player. He is a special player.”

Bukayo Saka compared to Martin Odegaard

Odegaard and Saka are undoubtedly two of Arsenal’s most important players, but when you look at the numbers, it’s clear which player is more influential in terms of Arsenal’s attacking output.

Saka played fewer games than Odegaard last season, and yet, his output was still greater than the Arsenal captain’s.

A couple of seasons ago, Odegaard was making a lot more happen in the final third, but nowadays, he isn’t contributing as much as he once did in the attack, and now, Saka is Arsenal’s most influential player.

Saka is set for four weeks out injured, and in this time, Odegaard needs to seriously step up and get back to his best as Arsenal face some very difficult fixtures in the coming weeks.