Bukayo Saka has hailed "amazing" Martin Odegaard following Arsenal’s 4-2 win against Leeds United on Sunday.
The Norway international was handed his first Gunners start by Mikel Arteta and played a starring role in the victory, slotting in seamlessly in the No 10 role alongside Saka and Emile Smith Rowe.
The young attacking trio caused Leeds all sorts of problems with their creativity and movement as Arsenal got back to winning ways following successive defeats against Wolves and Aston Villa.
What has been said?
When asked about his new team-mate, who will spend the remainder of the season on loan at Arsenal from Real Madrid, Saka said: “He’s amazing. He has a lot of quality and I am looking forward to playing more with him, scoring some goals and assisting him. He’s an amazing player.”
How did Odegaard fare against Leeds?
The 22-year-old was impressive on his first Arsenal start and showed he already has an excellent understanding with Smith Rowe and Saka. The three youngsters combined very well and played key roles in Arsenal’s convincing victory.
Odegaard finished with a passing accuracy of just over 81% and showed flashes of real quality as Arteta’s side moved up to 10th in the Premier League.
He played an important role in one of Arsenal’s best attacking performances of the season, it was a display that delighted Arteta.
“I thought it was much better,” said the Gunners boss. “We were much more efficient and we were much more composed. We took our time when it was needed, we faked movement, we had runs in behind and we had people in the box and people arriving into the box.
“Our decision-making was much better and then the efficiency when we were hitting the last shot, many of those were on target and that's the difference when you want to score goals.”
What’s Odegaard said about his long-term future?
Odegaard says nothing has been decided about his future and his focus right now is purely on ending the season as well as possible with Arsenal.
Speaking to TV2 he said: “You never know what is going to happen, but for now I am just focusing on doing my best this season and helping the team as much as possible.”
Further Reading
- Arsenal's new love story: Aubameyang and the youngsters
- Parlour excited by Arsenal's new addition Odegaard
- Odegaard discusses permanent Arsenal transfer
