Arsenal playmaker Martin Odegaard could follow Mikel Arteta ’s route into management after goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale claimed that the two have tactical conversations in Spanish. It comes after the manager has signed a new deal with the club that will take him until the 2024/25 season.
The Spaniard has managed the club since late 2019, achieving back-to-back eighth-placed finishes and an FA Cup. This season has seen his league form improve after a summer of change at the club, with a return to the Champions League still on the cards.
It seems as though Arteta has begun to come into his own this campaign, with a squad of young players motivated by success. On the race for fourth, the manager has said: “There will still be some twists and turns, we all have difficult matches to play. We all know how difficult it is to win games in the Premier League.”
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The 40-year-old had a successful playing career before moving on to be an assistant manager to Pep Guardiola at Manchester City. He had, of course, been tipped to go onto management during his playing days, answering questions about a potential “Mikel Arteta FC” when he turned 30.
He outlined a plan to play exciting football, something he has since tried to do as a manager. If he was tipped early on to do so, there are many current players who may go on to become leaders in coaching when they retire.
One of those could be playmaker Odegaard who, despite only being 23-years-old, is already showing his leadership skills. He has captained Norway for the past year and has taken the armband in the absence of Alexandre Lacazette at club level.
Adding to that, he appears to have a tactical understanding of the game, as explained by Ramsdale, when he claimed that the Norwegian and the manager have conversations in Spanish about the game. He said, on That Peter Crouch Podcast: “Martin Odegaard is parched. To be fair he was playing for Real Madrid when he was 12.
“I don’t know what they are saying because they speak Spanish. The day after a game he [Arteta] will speak to most people in English.
“Maybe one of the two of the lads whose English isn’t perfect (he’ll speak to them in foreign languages). But Martin’s English is perfect and he’s speaking Spanish.” Those discussions, and his tactical reading of the game, could take him a long way.
While the playmaker has a long way to go in his playing career, he could well be shaping up for a successful coaching career afterwards.
