Paul Merson has written in The Daily Star that Arsenal players have now started to give the ball more to Martin Odegaard.
The former Arsenal star, who now works as a pundit for Sky Sports, has been impressed by recent performances of Odegaard for the Gunners.
Merson has said that when the 22-year-old Norway international attacking midfielder initially joined Arsenal on loan from Real Madrid in the January transfer window, his new teammates were not passing him the ball, but now things have changed.
Arsenal legend Martin Keown made a similar observation about Odegaard after the match against Benfica in the Europa League last month, stating that despite the attacking midfielder being in good positions, his teammates were not passing him the ball, as quoted in The Daily Mail.
Merson wrote about Odegaard in The Daily Star: “It took him a while to adjust but you have to give him the ball. He gets into lots of good positions, and to start with his team-mates weren’t seeing him.
“They weren’t giving him the ball. But now he’s getting it more often and he’s making things happen. He can hurt opposing teams.
“It’s almost a free role and for someone so young to be trusted with such a difficult position at such a young age is a big deal.”
Important player for Arsenal
It did take Odegaard a while to settle in at Arsenal, but that is understandable. After all, the Norway international had not played much football at Madrid and was coming to a new league and playing in a new system.
The youngster has been playing well in recent games and is now an important player for the Gunners.
Odegaard scored for Arsenal in the North London derby against Tottenham Hotspur and was key in the Gunners launching a comeback against West Ham United last weekend.
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