Martin Odegaard warming up before Arsenal's Champions League match with Sporting CP. (Photo by Alex Pantling/Getty Images)
Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard is the ‘most important’ player in the Premier League.
That’s according to the club’s former centre-back Martin Keown, who has been in awe of the midfielder’s influence since returning to fitness.
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Odegaard was sidelined for a large portion of the early season, during which Arsenal’s title bid nearly fell apart with just three wins from the seven games he missed.
Since his return, the Gunners have drawn 1-1 with Chelsea and beaten Nottingham Forest 3-0, while also thrashing Sporting CP 5-1 away in the Champions League.
Arsenal have looked infinitely more inventive and dynamic with the Norway international back on the pitch and will now once again be confident of sustaining a challenge against Liverpool and Manchester City.
Keown hails Arsenal star Martin Odegaard
Martin Odegaard applauds supporters after Arsenal’s win over Nottingham Forest. (Photo by Justin Setterfield/Getty Images)
Up next for Arsenal is a London derby away at West Ham United on Saturday.
Arsenal won 6-0 on their last visit to the London Stadium in February, with Odegaard creating a whopping seven chances and registering two assists.
That’s just a small snapshot of what the former Real Madrid man is capable of.
Odegaard’s overall form and influence on Arsenal’s results this season make him Keown’s pick as the most important player in the English top flight right now.
“He’s created 102 chances – more than anyone in the Premier League – and 41 times he’s retrieved the ball in the final third so in and out of possession,” he said (via TBR).
“I’m struggling to think of a more important player in the Premier League.
“To come back after six weeks out and hit the ground running in the way that he did shows how he’s applied himself when he’s been out. We’d become predictable in front of goal.”