Martin Odegaard has written a fairytale story for him, ever since being rejected by Real Madrid. Not many youngsters have made it to the top once they carried the label of being a Real Madrid reject. But Odegaard has defied all that, and scripted a stunning comeback for himself by joining north Londoners Arsenal in the summer of 2021cfrom Real Madrid for €35m, following a successful loan spell with the club.
The Norwegian now already dons the captain’s armband at Arsenal at the mere age of 24. He was, by may, being touted as the missing part of the Mikel Arteta’s jigsaw at the club when he started to uplift the Gunners in terms of their performance output. Martin Odegaard has led Arsenal to a title charge this season as they comfortably sit atop of the Premier League, and has now opened up on how he ended in north London after being poached by many clubs across Europe.
‘I’ve always had this weird connection to Arsenal’ – Martin Odegaard on why he chose the Arteta’s Gunners
At a time when Martin Odegaard joined Arsenal, the club was under a rebuilding process helmed by Mikel Arteta. The former assistant of Pep Guardiola at Manchester City was consistently trying to reduce the average age of his squad as each transfer window passed. And Martin Odegaard, who was on loan from Real at Arsenal since the winter of 2021, was quickly identified by the Spaniard as his next step to progress his process.
Despite scoring just once and providing two assists in 14 league outings across his six-month loan spell, Arsenal decided to splash €35m on Odegaard’s acquisition. The Norway international was also subject to heavy interest from Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Manchester United and even Real’s fierce rivals Barcelona. But it was Arsenal, who had reportedly dreamt of signing Odegaard since their Arsene Wenger days finally got their man. Speaking of why he picked the Gunners, Martin Odegaard told The Players’ Tribune:
“I challenge anyone to come away from a meeting with Mikel Arteta and not believe everything he tells you. When he speaks to you, you understand that whatever he says will happen, will happen. He’s next level. He’s passionate, he’s intense and sometimes, yeah, he’s a bit crazy. So if there is anyone who still doesn’t believe in this Arsenal team, take it from me that there are no limits to what we can achieve. No-one can tell me otherwise.
“I spoke to Mikel on a Zoom call and he told me all about the project. Arsenal were not doing well at the time. They were way down in like 15th in the table. But he told me his plan, everything he was building towards and he knew exactly what he needed to change at the club. He told me all about these amazing young players in the squad – Bukayo Saka, Gabriel Martinelli, Emile Smith Rowe – and he explained how I was going to fit in and improve.
“I got this strong feeling that he was onto something really special. And even when we finished eighth at the end of my first season here, no-one at the club lost faith in what we were doing. It was all part of the plan and though we’re in the title race now there is still a long way to go and no one is thinking about May yet.”
However, Martin Odegaard’s only motivation towards signing a four-year contract with the 13-time Premier League champions in 2021 is not Arteta. The playmaker reveals how he developed a ‘weird connection’ with the Gunners through video game franchise FIFA. He continued:
“I’ve always had this weird connection to Arsenal. It started long before I signed. I don’t even really know how to explain it, except with one little story. 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.
“So, naturally, one of the first things I did when I was pretending to be Arsene Wenger on Career Mode was to buy myself. Me and Arsenal. It just seemed like a good match in my head. That special connection turned into a reality when I signed here two years ago. It was a decision that changed my life around. I come into training smiling every day. But my story is definitely not Career Mode. This has been a very different journey to how I imagined it on FIFA. In real life, you can’t just select where you want to go and everything will be perfect.”