Real Madrid attacking midfielder Martin Odegaard is on loan at Arsenal, and after an expected adjustment period, he’s been breaking through in recent weeks.
It started with a brilliant goal against Olympiacos in the Europa League. And then a couple of days later, the Norwegian scored again in a North London derby win over Tottenham. What a way to endear yourself to a new team, right?
Although Odegaard didn’t score or assist this weekend against West Ham, he had his best individual performance on Sunday against a different London-based club, helping his team complete a 3-3 comeback.
The Gunners were down 3-0 and looked to be on the wrong end of a blowout. But then, they had new life, largely thanks to Odegaard. He was tremendous, covering the entire pitch in an all-around elite midfield performance. Odegaard made the men around him look like children, orchestrating attacks and recovering balls at will. He was everywhere.
Real Madrid loanee Martin Odegaard has become Arsenal’s best player
Per WhoScored.com, the Royal White loanee had four key passes and four dribbles completed. And even though he didn’t get an assist, he created two goals with the pass to the assist, pulling the strings for Arsenal.
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Odegaard is Arsenal’s best player. Right now, there is not a single person on that team offering what he does on the ball in terms of his technique and vision. And his leadership matters. Scoring against Tottenham and then leading the way in a never-say-die comeback against West Ham? That’s incredible, and you don’t normally see that kind of play from a 22-year-old.
Last season, Odegaard showed the world at Real Sociedad that he can be one of the best in the world. He was pulling that team to a Champions League place with his weekly brilliance and quarterbacking of the La Real attack, prior to a knee injury.
This season on an even bigger stage in the Premier League at one of the world’s most popular – but yet disappointing – clubs in Arsenal, Odegaard is about to do it all over again.
It would be presumptuous to say that he’s already reached the dizzying heights of his MVP-caliber, first-half of the 2019-2020 La Liga season in San Sebastian, but you know what? With that incredible performance against West Ham as he built on a couple of other strong displays, it’s not far-fetched to say that he’s getting close.
Odegaard’s loan spell at Arsenal is so important to not only the Gunners’ hope as a club in 2020-2021, but also to Odegaard in furthering his reputation. It is comical that Real Madrid could not find a place for such a talented player, who would have helped transform this embarrassingly inconsistent, Karim Benzema carry-job of an attack.
But in North London, Odegaard is at least getting a chance to flourish and endear himself to more football fans who get to watch a future world-class superstar lifting up the rest of their squad. Every minute matters to Odegaard in his development, and we know that next season, he will be back in Madrid. There can be no other way. And an in-form Odegaard at the Santiago Bernabeu? Perhaps with Erling Haaland or Kylian Mbappe in front of him? That is the stuff of dreams.