Rafael van der Vaart is a true modern day Tottenham icon.
The Dutch midfielder was an absolute joy to watch during his time at Spurs in the early 2010s, and his link-up with Luka Modric and Gareth Bale led to a very exciting era at Tottenham under Harry Redknapp.
Of course, as a Spurs legend, Van der Vaart usually isn’t too kind to Arsenal and their players.
The pundit called Declan Rice ‘useless’ after his poor performance in the Euro 2024 final, but there is one Arsenal player he’s now reserved some special praise for.
Indeed, speaking on The Lineup, Van der Vaart has hailed Martin Odegaard as one of his favourite players in the game today.
Martin Odegaard of Arsenal celebrates after Thomas Partey of Arsenal (not pictured) scores his team's second goal during the Premier League match b...
Photo by David Price/Arsenal FC via Getty Images
Martin Odegaard is one of Rafael van der Vaart’s favourite players
Van der Vaart spoke about this Arsenal team, claiming that Odegaard is one of his favourite players.
Odegaard has been brilliant for Arsenal since his return from injury, and Van der Vaart has now hailed the £30m midfielder.
“The positive style with Arteta, I really love it. Odegaard is one of my favourite players. He’s one of those players, you think physically he’s ok, not the best, but his feet, wow,” Van der Vaart said.
Odegaard compared to Van der Vaart
It makes a lot of sense why Van der Vaart is such a fan of Odegaard. After all, these two players are very similar in a lot of ways.
Indeed, they’re both left-footed attacking midfielders who rely on their technical abilities more than their physical prowess.
Both players spent time at Real Madrid before finding their best form in north London too.
So, the big question is, who is the better player between the two?
If you compare Odegaard’s stats for Arsenal to Van der Vaart’s stats for Tottenham, you get some interesting findings.
Martin Odegaard at Arsenal Rafael van der Vaart at Tottenham
Games 162 73
Goals 36 28
Assists 28 18
Games per goal 4.5 2.6
Games per assist 5.8 4
These two are and were both world-class players in their prime, but Van der Vaart may just about edge things here.
This is also reflected in the numbers both players put up at Real Madrid.
Rafael van der Vaart at Real Madrid Martin Odegaard at Real Madrid
Games 73 11
Goals 12 0
Assists 13 0
Odegaard is only 25 years old, so he still has a long way to go in his career, and he could end up surpassing Van der Vaart and his legacy, but, at the moment, it would be fair to argue that the Dutchman was the better player.
These two have both been a joy to watch for Tottenham and Arsenal respectively, and one can only imagine what these two could’ve achieved if they were playing in the same team.
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