Looking ahead to tomorrow's London derby against Chelsea, Mikel Arteta has reflected on Martin Odegaard's journey from wonderkid to Arsenal captain.
When asked how our 25-year-old skipper had fulfilled his potential, Arteta had this to say: "Fulfilled his potential? Hopefully not! There is still more to come.
"He's still very young and he’s made huge steps in the last few seasons. He's got a massive role at the club and hopefully, we can keep growing."
Odegaard carried the weight of expectation ever since his early years in Norway, training with the Stromsgodset first team at just 13 years old and trialling with some of the biggest clubs in the world, before eventually joining Real Madrid.
"He had to wear that label since he was 14/15 and that's not easy. But I think he has handled that in a great way.
"The steps that he made to progress and to play minutes and develop his career, especially when he went to Real Sociedad - I think that was a really intelligent move.
"And then from there, he took off and now we have the player that we have."
Our Norwegian midfielder has fifteen goal contributions this season so far, adding to his tally at the weekend with our second goal against Wolves. Arteta is expecting him to continue to play a vital role in the final set of Premier League fixtures.
"He's our captain. He’s one of our main players and when you look at the impact he has with us daily, it’s amazing. So we are really happy to have him.
"When I saw everyone this morning, I had to stop them, because winning as well is a big boost of energy. After the performance against Wolves and now having to play the London derby tomorrow, everybody is ready for it."
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