Arsenal midfielder Martin Odegaard considers comparisons with Mesut Ozil "a big compliment" after another impressive performance saw the Norwegian likened to the Gunners' former number 10.
Odegaard opened the scoring for Arsenal in their 3-2 Premier League victory at Watford, a result which saw Mikel Arteta's side end the weekend back in fourth place.
Like Ozil before him, the 23-year-old moved to north London after a spell with Real Madrid, and his impressive displays this term have ensured that's not the only similarity between the two.
The £30m man ran the show for much of the game at Vicarage Road, helping dictate play for Arteta's team, and he admitted to being flattered by comparisons to a man who pulled the strings for Arsenal for a number of years before leaving in less than ideal circumstances in 2021.
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"I’m not a fan of comparing myself to other players, but I take it as a big compliment," Odegaard told TV2 (via Goal ) amid the Ozil comparisons.
"He was a player I looked up to a lot. He was one of my favourites when I was younger.
“I feel I am in very good shape. It is always difficult to compare with things you have done before, but I feel I deliver at a good level every day.”
The goal against Watford was Odegaard's fifth of the season, his best ever return in a top five league, and Arsenal still have 13 league games to go.
He also has three assists to his name this term, but Arteta has been urging him to contribute more at the sharp end.
“He needs to create more goals, he needs to score more goals, he needs to make more runs in behind, he needs to be closer to the strikers to give them support, and he can do that," the manager said before the Watford game.
“There are areas where he can only get better, and the only way to get better is to agree on them, and then practise.”
After the victory, Arteta spoke highly of Odegaard's understanding with Bukayo Saka, who set up the opener before getting on the scoresheet himself.
"I think it's between them. The way the game flows, the way we attack, how we adapt our positions relating to each other, how we move the ball," he said.
"The speed of the movement, the timing if it is much better, the position that we get, the threat and the sense of having the capacity to create the chances that we have done is much better and we have to keep developing that."
