In what is arguably the most deep and competitive football competition in the world, every season, the Premier League provides us with Hollywood-like storylines that are largely unparalleled across all of sport.
Whether it be Leicester City’s historic league title in 2015/16 or Liverpool’s first triumph of the ‘Prem’ era in 2019/20 – there’s traditionally always one club that shocks the footballing world and massively exceeds expectations.
That is the case for Arsenal this season, who, after finishing fifth in 2021/22, weren’t considered real contenders for the title in 2022/23. That was evidenced by the premier league betting odds, with the Gunners entering the season as the sixth favorites to win it all at 40/1.
The north London club have been exceptional however, leading the league up until late April. Their success is due to a myriad of factors including key signings and a new and improved approach from their manager Mikel Arteta just a couple of the standouts.
Another major reason has been the play of midfielder Martin Odegaard. The Norwegian has arguably been Arsenal’s best player this season, with him notching up an impressive 15 goals and seven assists in 35 appearances.
Couple that with his underrated performances on the defensive side of the ball, in which he has been successful in 62% of his tackles and not one of his errors leading to a single goal, and the 24-year-old is quickly establishing himself as one of the best players in the Premier League.
Whether you’re watching him live in the stadium or in the lounge room at home, you can sense Odegaard’s passion every time he steps foot onto the pitch in an Arsenal uniform.
That’s what you need out of a captain, and if his comments in the aftermath of a horror month of football in which they have likely thrown the title away to Manchester City are anything to go by, the Gunners can be confident they have the right man leading their club.
“It looks difficult, to be honest, we have to be realistic, I don’t think City is going to make many mistakes now,” he said.
“The only thing we can do now is get back and finish the season in a good way, I think everyone deserves that, especially the fans. That’s the only thing we can do and we’ll have to see.
“We’ve done a lot of good things [this season], but at the moment it’s just disappointing the way we ended. Especially the three games before the Chelsea game, and then this game today,” Odegaard added in the aftermath of their 3-0 loss to Brighton.
It is that level of accountability that has given the powers that be at Arsenal the desire to lock Odegaard in long-term, as reports have recently surfaced that he and the club will sit down to negotiate a contract extension in the coming weeks.
If the Gunners can manage to secure the services of Odegaard in conjunction with Bukayo Saka, William Saliba, and Aaron Ramsdale as they are expected to do, don’t be surprised to see Arsenal challenging for league titles for many years to come.