William Saliba has claimed Arsenal teammate Martin Odegaard is one of the threebest players in the world as the club captain continued his electric form in the5-1 win over Sporting CP.
The Gunners began to flounder after losing Odegaard to injury in September but they are unbeaten in the three games he has started since returning, with the Norwegian even grabbing an assist in a third consecutive appearance in Tuesday's victory.
"It is a bit different [when Odegaard is fit] as he is one of the best players in the world," Saliba confessed. "We are so happy to have him back. We are better with him, I hope he doesn't get injured again. We have to enjoy playing with him. You can see we are better with him.
"He is a top professional, so he worked hard at the training ground. I'm not surprised that he came back like this but it is not easy when you haven't played for weeks to come back at this level."
Martin Odegaard
Odegaard is back pulling the strings / Soccrates Images/GettyImages
Saliba went even further and hailed Odegaard as one of the best players on the planet right now.
"Top three!" he exclaimed. "I don't want to pressure him too much. I think top three. I love this guy."
The Arsenal centre-back named Kevin De Bruyne and Declan Rice as the only midfielders who could rival Odegaard for the title of best midfielder in the world.
Gunners boss Mikel Arteta has also highlighted the importance of Odegaard's return, admitting his side were struggling with their injury crisis earlier this season before the likes of Rice, Bukayo Saka, Mikel Merino and Riccardo Calafiori began to return.
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