Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta tells Martin Odegaard what to do to take his game to another level
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Arsenal captain and midfielder Martin Odegaard has asked manager Mikel Arteta what he has to do to take his game to the next level.
The Norwegian international had a brilliant individual campaign last term, ending the season with 15 goals and seven assists in 37 Premier League games.
Odegaard has started 2023-24 brightly, with two goals to his name in four league games so far.
The 24-year-old knows he is not the finished article yet and wants to keep improving every aspect of his game, and he wants to know what his boss recommends.
“What I want to know is how to take my game to another level,” the Arsenal star recently asked Arteta.
“Very simple, keep doing what you are doing,” replied the Spaniard.
Odegaard could not break into the first team at Real Madrid but has established himself as a key player at Arsenal since initially joining on loan in the summer of 2020.
He has improved significantly over the last few years and Arteta knows he only has to keep doing what he has been doing so far to keep getting better and better.
The midfielder emerged as Arsenal Player of the Season in 2022-23, made the PFA Team of the Year and also picked up the London Football Awards Premier League Player of the Year prize.
While winning the Premier League and Champions League with the Gunners will be his top priorities, Odegaard would also love to win the Ballon d’Or and establish himself as the best footballer on the planet.
He simply needs to score and assist more goals and win major trophies with his club to boost his chances of doing so.
Odegaard is nowhere near his peak yet and still has a lot of years ahead of him at the top of the game, and it is safe to say the world is yet to see the best he has to offer.
Arsenal have been in talks to hand him an extended deal and will be glad to have him spend most of his best years at Emirates Stadium.