Graeme Souness admits that he is a ‘big fan’ of Martin Odegaard as there is ‘nothing to dislike’ about the Arsenal captain who leads Mikel Arteta’s Gunners side by ‘example’.
The 25-year-old has led the Emirates Stadium natives to the top of the Premier League table so far this season. Odegaard has also taken Arsenal into the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the first time in 14 years. Ties with Bayern Munich await them on April 9 and 17.
Odegaard has featured in 36 of Arsenal’s 40 fixtures across all competitions this term. Arteta has so far only been without the Norway skipper back in November. The midfielder suffered a concussion and was sidelined when a ball hit him in the face in training at London Colney.
Martin Odegaard has Arsenal’s third-most goals and second-most assists this season
His concussion kept Odegaard from Arsenal’s 2-0 win over Sevilla in the Champions League group stage. He also missed the controversial 1-0 defeat at Newcastle United in the Premier League plus the 3-1 win over Burnley. He was an unused substitute against Sheffield United.
What the Drammen native has produced whilst fit sees Odegaard rank third with Arsenal for goals this season. Only Bukayo Saka (16) and Leandro Trossard (11) have a greater haul than Odegaard and Kai Havertz (9). Only Saka (15) also has more assists than Odegaard (8) yet.
Odegaard registered his latest assist with a crucial pass to send Trossard through to score in Arsenal’s Champions League last 16 second-leg against FC Porto. The 55-cap maestro sent the Belgian through to draw the tie level on aggregate at 1-1 with a delightful threaded ball.
Graeme Souness praises everything Martin Odegaard provides Mikel Arteta’s Gunners
Porto would force the tie to a penalty shootout but Odegaard led by example from 12 yards out. After winning the coin toss and choosing to go first, the Norwegian buried his spot-kick and set the tone for a 4-2 win. Now, Souness admits he really likes the way Odegaard plays.
“I’m a big fan of Martin Odegaard,” Souness told the Daily Mail. “There’s nothing to dislike about him. He has great energy, he’s a cute passer of the ball, gets his fair share of goals and he leads by example.
“He doesn’t strike me as a captain who would dig his teammates out – he prefers to show them how it should be done.”
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