Martin Odegaard reveals ‘really important’ change Mikel Arteta has made at Arsenal

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Martin Odegaard has shone since joining Arsenal in 2021, and since Mikel Arteta made him club captain, he has reached new levels.

Odegaard was a top talent at Real Madrid, and one of the most sought-after wonderkids in the world when he was a teenager. Arsene Wenger even tried to sign Odegaard at Arsenal before he moved to the Santiago Bernabeu.

The Norweigan embarked on several different loan spells before settling at Arsenal, and he has been a huge part of Arteta’s rebuild as he turned Arsenal into title challengers.

Odegaard has now heaped praise on his manager, and revealed what change Arteta made which allowed Arsenal to transform during his time at the club.

• READ MORE: Arsenal’s XI for Mikel Arteta’s first match as manager

Martin Odegaard praises Mikel Arteta for Arsenal transformation

Speaking on the Men In Blazers Podcast, Odegaard revealed that the changes in mentality Arteta instilled allowed Arsenal to succeed.

“The first word is definitely family, we’re all a family here, we’re all together, togetherness in the team, in the club, with the supporters,” Odegaard stated.

“It’s changed so much since I came here, it’s a really good group to be a part of and everything we are trying to do we do together, we’re all pushing in the same direction, that’s the foundations of it, everything we do on the pitch we do as a family and I think that’s really important.”

When asked how this came to fruition at Arsenal, Odegaard praised his manager.

“I think that’s Mikel [Arteta], he has changed everything around the club, he has done everything the way he wants to and everything is just following him and understanding what he wants,” Odegaard added.

“There’s so many good people at the club and we all want the same thing, we want to win, we want to improve and it’s easier to work together when you have the same mindset.”

Mikel Arteta changed Arsenal’s mentality

When Arteta arrived at Arsenal, he inherited a fractured dressing room which caused problems under Unai Emery.

However, Arteta and Edu Gaspar embarked on a ruthless mission to gut the squad and build a younger one with a fresh mentality and a will to win.

Odegaard was one of the most important signings in this regard, and his leadership of this group makes him a superb captain.

Arsenal are now miles away from where they were when Arteta came in, and they will hope to add trophies as a reward for the excellent progress they have made.