‘Without Him there’s no Arsenal’: Paul Merson says there’s a Gunners star who’s even better than Bukayo Saka now
Paul Merson believes Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard is actually the Gunners’ best player right now – not Bukayo Saka or William Saliba.
The Gunners have had an incredible campaign in the Premier League this season. Almost every one of their players have been magnificent, and it really is difficult to pick their Player of the Season.
Merson, in his piece on GiveMeSport, thinks Martin Odegaard is Arsenal‘s best player – not Bukayo Saka.
Paul Merson says Martin Odegaard is Arsenal’s best player
If you ask a bunch of Arsenal fans to pick who their best player has been this season, we’re sure you’ll get three or four different answers from the group.
Bukayo Saka is the obvious answer, as is William Saliba, who has been magnificent this season. Oleksandr Zinchenko has been the best left-back in the country, while Ben White has been sensational too.
We could go on and on here, but if Merson has to pick one, the pundit says he’d go with skipper Martin Odegaard, who has had a phenomenal individual campaign for Arsenal in the Premier League this season.
Merson wrote: “He is a quiet leader, but he leads by example. I think he is Arsenal’s best player.
“He’s their captain and he doesn’t go round shouting the odds like some captains, but he doesn’t need to because he’s always taking responsibility on the pitch.
“His teammates respond to him and he brings people into the game at the right time.”
Our View:
Odegaard has proved all his critics wrong this season.
One of the biggest complaints people had against the Norwegian was that he doesn’t score enough goals. Odegaard has 14 in the Premier League this season, which is an outrageous return for a midfielder.
If he scores two more in the next four games, he’ll set the Premier League record for the most non-penalty goals scored by a midfielder in a single season in the competition’s history – Kevin De Bruyne currently holds that record with 15 goals.
There will certainly be an argument when you debate who Arsenal’s best player is, but Odegaard definitely is right up there.
