Captain Martin Odegaard is Arsenal’s joint top scorer with four assists, helping the Gunners to the Premier League title – and Mikel Arteta has praised his influence.

Mikel Arteta has hailed Martin Odegaard as a “natural leader” while challenging his captain to get even better.

The £30m Norwegian midfielder is the club’s joint top scorer with six goals and added two more assists in the Boxing Day win over West Ham. And the teenage prodigy, who signed for Real Madrid aged 16, has shown maturity beyond his years in helping Arsenal to the top of the Premier League this season.

“I was hoping – I don’t know if I was expecting – that he could show the talent that he has,” admitted the Spaniard. “He is so mature because he started so young.

“He had to leave hom’s e very early, he had big expectations around him that he had to deal with. And now he has had the continuity and the minutes and the role in the team that he needed to shine.

“The captaincy has been really positive for him. He’s taken it in a really natural way, he hasn’t changed and he doesn’t need to change. He has his own personality, his own things in his mind and how he needs to deal with them and he does it in a really good way.

“He’s a great guy and he does things in his own way. He doesn’t need to shout to get attention. We are glad to have him.”

Arteta said Odegaard, now 24, still has to improve after first joining Arsenal on loan in January 2021. “Martin is exceptional at what he does and he has still to grow in many areas and he knows that and he is willing to do that,” he added.

Martin Odegaard has been crucial to Arsenal’s rise to the top of the Premier League

“He can be much better. I think physically he can still improve in many areas. The way he can drive with the ball and eliminate people more, his crossing, his passing range can still be better. He can still develop a lot.”

The Arsenal head coach called his goalscoring a “bonus” but said he wanted “special moments” from his attacking midfielders. In the absence of the injured Gabriel Jesus, the three forwards Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Eddie Nketiah all scored against the Hammers.

Arteta said: “It’s just a game. We need the consistency and capacity to do that every three days. We have another opportunity to do that tomorrow.”

Bogey team Brighton beat Arsenal in the Carabao Cup last month and have more Premier League wins – four – against the Gunners than their three defeats.

“It is always a really difficult and tricky game,” Arteta admitted. “They are a team that has a lot of confidence and plays with a lot of personality. They will ask big questions so we have to be at a high level for that game.”

source: https://www.mirror.co.uk/