Jamie Carragher tells Arteta his big call on £34m Arsenal player ‘strange’, he responds

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Jamie Carragher told Mikel Arteta that his call to hand Martin Odegaard the captain’s armband at Arsenal was ‘strange’ even though he holds such a role for Norway.

The Arsenal boss made it clear that it was a ‘difficult’ call to make, especially with ‘the history’ of what has happened to captains of the club during the past few years.

Prior to Arteta replacing Unai Emery in the north London dugout, Granit Xhaka, who is seen as the leader without the armband, was stripped of the captaincy after that infamous moment against Crystal Palace.

Well, fast forward to last January, and Arteta was providing the same treatment to Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang.

But rather than giving him another chance, he was booted out and sent to Barcelona, as Carragher and Arteta spoke about that role on MNF Special on Sky Sports.

“Talking about leadership qualities,” said Carragher. “Odegaard, you made him captain. Again, from the outside, you are thinking ‘Oh, that’s a strange one’, even though he is captain of his national team. But was that a difficult decision and how did you come to that?”

Arteta responded: “It was difficult, especially with the history of the captain in the last few years at the club. We had to pick one and we had to surround that captain with other leadership skills that Granit has, or Gabriel Jesus has or Rob (Holding) has.

“But we believe that he represented really well where we are now as a club. What we are trying to build and the type of values we want to instil at the club. Martin isn’t the most vocal leader, but he leads by example and he is very well-respected by everyone at the club.”

XHAKA THE SKIPPER WITHOUT THE ARMBAND

The role of a captain in the modern game is now changing and it’s no longer about throwing punches, screaming, shouting and getting in the faces of your teammates.

As Odegaard, 24, is proving, the £34 million star (Guardian) does his talking with the ball and he leads by example in that way.

Going by the Arsenal All or Nothing documentary, it’s Xhaka who is the captain without the armband and the vocal figure in the dressing room, which makes him just as important as someone like Odegaard.