Rio Ferdinand changes his opinion on Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard

Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand has acknowledged that he was wrong in his judgement of Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard at the beginning of the campaign.

Ferdinand initially had doubts whether the captaincy would ‘weigh heavy’ on Odegaard’s performances this season, but this has not been the case. He already has six goals and two assists in the league.

Two of those goals came in the 2-0 win at Wolverhampton Wanderers before the World Cup break. Speaking on his Youtube channel, Ferdinand said that he was pleased to see Odegaard stepping up on Sunday.

The former United captain added that he had a different opinion on Odegaard’s captaincy earlier this campaign, and has been left impressed with the Norwegian delivering as the leader of the club.

He said: “I was as pleased as anyone to see Odegaard be the man to step up and have that moment. We’ve got technical people behind the scenes, can you get that clip up and show what I actually said, I said it “could” be something that weighs heavy on him.”

“Whether or not it happens, I didn’t say it would. I said it could. I hoped it wouldn’t, but it could. One thing you can’t question with this kid is that he’s been a child superstar, we’ve known about him since he was probably 13 or 14 years old. He is delivering right now, as captain of Arsenal football club.”

Odegaard has developed into a brilliant playmaker

The £115,000-a-week star had a good full season with the Gunners last term, registering seven goals and four assists from 36 Premier League appearances.

He has stepped up his performances this season with six goals and two assists from 13 games. One of the positives has been his composed finishing.

In the past, Odegaard got into brilliant scoring positions in the box, but could not convert. He either fluffed his lines or tried to find a teammate around him.

This season, he has been willing to take more shots. There is still for improvement with his finishing, but he has definitely developed in his short time at the club.

At 23, he has the prime years of his career ahead and should only get better. Odegaard will have a key role to play in the club’s title quest after the World Cup.

He is one of the players that won’t be at the tournament this winter. That offers time for him to recuperate and be fit and firing ahead of the restart on Boxing Day.

Stats from Transfermarkt.com and Capology.com