Aaron Ramsdale believes Martin Odegaard should be Arsenal's next permanent captain.
The 23-year-old midfielder was handed the armband by manager Mikel Arteta in April after regular captain Alexandre Lacazette was dropped to the bench, leading the side seven times in the Premier League. He was named as Norway's skipper in March 2021.
Lacazette is set to leave the Emirates when his contract expires later this month and Arteta will be forced to name his successor, as per Premier League rules. There are several candidates at Arsenal, including Ben White, Thomas Partey and Ramsdale. Yet the England goalkeeper believes Odegaard should keep the armband after impressing this season.
"If you give the armband it can go one of two ways, you either feel the pressure of the team and football club or it gives you a lift that it gives you an opportunity and lead from the front," Ramsdale told Arsenal legend David Seaman on the Seaman Says Podcast.
"As much as in interviews I’ve joked about Martin, he was at Real Madrid at 16-17, he’s seen all the best players in the world, he’s the captain of his country and for a 23-year-old, he has literally done everything you can in a short amount of time.
"He’s a very calming individual, he might not be the most vocal but you don’t always need your captain to be the most vocal because you could have three or four other leaders who are vocal. You could have two or three leaders who are vocal who perform - for him, he’s relished at the chance of wearing the armband. I have no problems with him being our captain."
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Experienced midfielder Granit Xhaka has also backed Odegaard to become Arsenal's next captain. "He [Odegaard] is the future of this club," Xhaka told Norwegian channel TV2 in May. "He’s already captain when Alexandre Lacazette does not play.
"He can be very proud of himself. You can see how far he has come in his head, mentally. He is very young, only 23, but in how he behaves and is on the field, he looks like he’s 30... he can definitely become Arsenal captain. He has the DNA in him. He works as hard every day as if he were in a fight... everyone in the dressing room listens to him. Why not?"
Arteta has been impressed with Odegaard's performances as skipper. "He [Odegaard] is developing in the right direction," the Spaniard told TV2 in April. "The most important thing is the respect and admiration he gets from his teammates.
"He represents everything we want in this club. He is a good alternative... his leadership skills are different than how leadership is defined by many people. He has some very special abilities that we would develop and get out of him.
"He needed the right environment, he needed to feel important, which has been difficult for him to feel the last couple of years. He is very intelligent. He picks up everything. He identifies all the problems we have on the field, or things we can take advantage of.
"He communicates very well with his teammates, they listen to him, and I see it as the right flow of information for things to be right on the field."
