Arsenal icon Freddie Ljungberg's assessment on Martin Odegaard and Emile Smith Rowe has been proven wrong over the last few months.
Smith Rowe established himself as a regular for Mikel Arteta's side last season but the Spaniard was still keen to bring fellow-playmaker Odegaard to the Emirates Stadium in the January 2021 transfer window, with the Norwegian captain initially signing on loan before joining permanently last summer.
But Gunners hero Ljungberg was left bemused by his former side's decision, claiming that it could hamper the development of the Hale End academy graduate if he was moved out wide.
Asked back in March 2021 if he was surprised that the north Londoners had signed Odegaard despite already having Smith Rowe, the Swede said: "Yes I was.
"I’m a little bit like… I think Odegaard is a great player, don’t get me wrong.
"But if you have young players in kind of the same position that you want to develop, taking someone in on loan that you don’t have a buying option on, to develop for another club – like Madrid in this case – I don’t understand that 100%.
"Because I think if we want to go forward at Arsenal as a football club it’s the young ones that are going to make the difference.
"And they need games and Emile doesn’t need to play as a winger because he’s moving for another player. He needs to play in his position."
However, Smith Rowe has scored 10 goals across all competitions this season, with the majority of those coming when he has been deployed on the left wing.
The talented midfielder's impressive goalscoring record even earned him a place in Gareth Southgate's last England squad, with the 21-year-old making his full debut during a 10-0 drubbing of San Marino back in November of last year, as he bagged a goal in the process.
