Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta has admitted on Football London that he feels Martin Odegaard is offering new skills to his side, after his arrival in January.
Odegaard made a slightly slow start to life at Arsenal in his first few appearances, but he has now started to prove his quality.
The Norwegian has been in fine form of late, and his display against West Ham United was arguably his finest in an Arsenal shirt.
Odegaard was instrumental as Arsenal came back from 3-0 down to draw 3-3 at the London Stadium.
The 22-year-old managed to continuously find pockets of space, and his passing kept picking apart the West Ham defence in the second half.
And Arteta was purring about the playmaker’s display at full-time.
He said: “I think he had an incredible performance. I think he was very intelligent the way he read the game, the way he affected the game and again he showed how much he wanted to win. When everyone was a little trembling he gave us that stability and that composure on the ball and he created chance after chance.
“I love talented and creative players that all the time are willing to take the ball and make that happen, that they are mobile and as well hard working. He’s one of them. We have some others with different qualities. It’s true that Martin is giving us now a level in certain things that we didn’t have.”
Odegaard’s recent displays are only increasing the desire among Arsenal fans to see him signed on a long-term basis.
The Daily Mail suggest that the Gunners are now suggesting that Arsenal will try and do a deal for the attacking midfielder in the summer, but whether Real Madrid will be open to selling such a talent remains to be seen.
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