After a heartbreaking climax to the Premier League season, the last thing Martin Ødegaard wanted was to be sitting at home watching most of Europe’s best players battle it out in Germany. But that is exactly the position the Arsenal captain found himself in after Norway’s failure to qualify for Euro 2024, their chances having been ended by Scotland last year.
“I wanted to be in the Euros and I’m pretty disappointed that we didn’t qualify,” he says. “The amount of games we play, the intensity in the games and how tough it is to play football at the biggest stage, it is really demanding so it is a good thing to get some rest. But I would prefer to be there.”
