Martin Odegaard on his love for Arsenal

By | Niranjan Bhargav 11 Feb, 2023

Odegaard expresses his childhood love for the Gunners

Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard has spoken out on why he wanted to play for Arsenal and even came close to joining the Gunners as a youth.

WHAT HAPPENED?

The Norwegian midfielder moved to Arsenal after failing to make a name for himself at Real Madrid. However, now he has gone on to become Gunner’s captain. Odegaard, while talking to the Players’ Tribune said that he always had a soft spot for Arsenal because of their playing style and iconic players who have donned the club’s jersey over the years.

WHAT THEY SAID:

He went on to explain, “I’ve never been that much into video games. I am of that generation that always played outside, but the one exception was FIFA. I mostly played Career Mode. You know, where you get to be the manager? The club I always chose to manage was Arsenal.”

“They were my FIFA team. Growing up in Norway, I watched a lot of Premier League and I just had this good feeling about Arsenal. I’d seen clips of Thierry Henry and the Invincibles. I knew the club had a history of developing playmakers like Fabregas, Nasri, Ozil – really smart, technical players, who were good on the ball and played the difficult passes. My kind of players.”

THE BIGGER PICTURE:

Odegaard was keen to prove that his love for the North Londoners was genuine. He revealed that back when Arsene Wenger was in charge, he was close to joining Arsenal before he moved to Real Madrid.

He recalled, “I’m not just saying this … I was actually close to choosing Arsenal,” he recalled. “When we went there, I got to train at London Colney. I met Arsene Wenger. He took me and Dad out for dinner. That was cool, but strange too. It’s Arsene Wenger, you know? He’s this legend I grew up watching on TV, and now I’m sitting across from him eating steak. I was so nervous I was just sitting there thinking, Is he analyzing me right now? Is he going to judge me if I eat the fries? Maybe I should just leave them. Hahaha! So, why Real Madrid then? I talked about it a lot with my dad and the rest of my family. In the end, Madrid is Madrid. They were the Champions League holders with the best players in the world.”