Mikel Arteta praises how much Martin Odegaard has matured and improved at Arsenal

Mikel Arteta has ben talking ahead of our game against Bournemouth, and has given a long eulogy about how much Martin Odegaard has improved since arriving on loan from Real Madrid in 2021. The then 22-year-old was struggling for game time in Madrid and, after being sent out on numerous loan deals, he had had enough of being shunted around all over Europe and was looking for some stability in his life.

He didn’t impress many Arsenal fans in the 14 games he played in that half-season on loan, but Mikel Arteta had already seen enough to be sure he could improve him drastically. The Boss then went all out to secure a permanent move from Real Madrid and we finally secured him for just 35m, which seems like a snip of a price right now.

So when Arteta was asked for an opinion on Martin yesterday, he said: “I’ve said many times he’s a great character, a great person to have around. I think he represents the values of our club in the best way and he keeps maturing. He’s going to have some personal experiences in the next month that I think are going to be very good for his progression as well as a person, and we are here to help him.

“When you mature, you mature in everything personally and professionally. His role in the team is very different to the one he had when he joined us on loan. He’s our captain now and has been for a while and he’s a really respected player that keeps performing in a way that not many can do at this level.

“We don’t know what level they can reach at the end and that’s why we try to broaden them. My job is to give players the right foundations so they can grow and then create an environment to inspire and support them so they can feel that they have the wings to fly whatever they want. This is what I have to do – give them the foundations that they can always get better and that the limit is put in relation to where they look at it, and Martin is certainly very ambitious.”

Arteta obviously is keen to surround himself with young ambitious stars who can take Arsenal to the highest level, and so far it seems to be working quite well…..

Long may it continue!