Rio Ferdinand has lauded Arsenal playmaker Martin Odegaard and stated that he is a ‘reincarnation’ of Mesut Ozil after his recent performance at Brighton.
The Manchester United legend added that the Arsenal captain, 24, ‘deserves a special mention’ for his performances and how he is playing like ‘Mozart’, as he told Vibe with Five.
Since returning from the World Cup break, Mikel Arteta’s men have won back-to-back matches, including a 4-2 win over Brighton on Saturday, in which Odegaard scored and assisted.
When Arteta first became Arsenal boss, it was the declining Ozil that was supplying the creative talent in the middle of the park.
By the time the former Manchester City assistant could get into his first full season as Arsenal boss, he made his mind up about Ozil and decided he was no longer part of his plans and proceeded to leave him out of the club’s 25-man Premier League squad.
The former World Cup winner left during the January transfer window of 2021, which opened the door for Odegaard to sign on a loan deal and now the rest is history.
“Can I just start this by saying, if there are any Arsenal fans on here that follow us, you guys are the real deal,” said Ferdinand. “These guys are serious.
“But Odegaard needs a special mention. This guy. I said when he got given the armband. This can go either two ways – it weighs too heavy on his shoulders or he’s going to run with it. And he is running with it.
“He’s playing like Mozart, at the moment. He’s rolling the ball through people’s legs. He looks like a reincarnation of Ozil at his best. I have been looking at him and thinking he has been a child star for a very long time. You can tell, he seems very comfortable in his skin and now he’s growing into the Arsenal captaincy role really well.”
ODEGAARD IS AN UNDERRATED TALENT
Sometimes football can be swallowed up by stats, but there are certain players where stats don’t do them justification.
During his career, Odegaard has been that player because, on the eye, he has been outstanding, a technical machine and the vision on the pitch that not many have.
This season, those numbers are bulking up because he has seven goals from 15 Premier League games, added with five assists, and is his side’s top-scorer this term.
After he was handed the captaincy by Arteta in the summer, he is certainly letting his football do the talking for his team.
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