Martin Odegaard has admitted that he has always been a big fan of Mesut Ozil but insisted that he doesn’t want to be compared to the one-time Arsenal hero.
Odegaard returned to Arsenal on a permanent basis this past summer after impressing on a half-season loan from Real Madrid last term.
As a number 10, the Norway international is charged with the task of filling the void left by Ozil as the Gunners’ conductor in attack.
The former Germany international hadn’t been weaving much magic in his final 18 months as an Arsenal player, prompting Mikel Arteta to terminate the now-Fenerbahce star’s contract at the beginning of 2021.
But during his peak years under Arsene Wenger, the 32-year-old was a serious asset for the Emirates Stadium club and finished his career in England with 33 goals and 54 assists from 184 Premier League games.
And although Odegaard admits that he grew up idolising Ozil, the Arsenal new boy doesn’t encourage side-by-side comparisons.
He told Stadium Astro: “I don’t like too much the comparisons. He was one of my favourite players when I was young. I always admired him. His quality is amazing. It’s nice to hear [comparisons] but I don’t think too much about it.”
How many assists does Odegaard have for Arsenal?
The 22-year-old set up his first goal as a permanent Arsenal player in the 6-0 demolition of West Brom in the EFL Cup last month.
In total, Odegaard has three assists for Arsenal and two of those came in the Premier League last season.
In terms of numbers, he is nowhere near Ozil as of yet but having said that, this is still a very young player.
He’s only a year older than Ozil was when he joined Real and although he had an instant impact at the Bernabeu, that’s a bit easier to do when you have one of the game’s all-time great players – Cristiano Ronaldo – to feed for goals.
Odegaard, who is likely to start for Arsenal against Burnley this afternoon, will certainly improve in every aspect of his game.
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