Arsenal’s rapid resurgence can be attributed to plenty of factors - Mikel Arteta’s coaching, the development of youngsters, even the improved Emirates crowd.
But it’s their shrewd recruitment which has a long rebuild well ahead of its intended schedule. Under Arteta and Sporting Director Edu, the Gunners squad has undergone a dramatic makeover.
Out are the veteran stars on bloated contracts, relics from a previous era of mediocrity. And in their place, young and hungry stars all with a point to prove.
Martin Odegaard perhaps symbolises that attitude better than anyone, having gone from wonderkid to busted flush, all before he turned 23. The Norwegian midfielder has been a household name since before his 16th birthday, aged 15 he made his senior international debut.
He quickly became tagged as the next best thing and his stock was only raised further after he joined Real Madrid in January 2015. Any hopes of developing away from the limelight were removed the day he rocked up at the Bernabeu - stripy jumper and all - to be unveiled as a Galactico.
The following six years would be tricky for Odegaard, failing to ever make the mark in the Spanish capital and seeing his wonderkid moniker quickly diminish. "I stopped playing with the spark that was typical of my game,” he wrote in the Players’ Tribune.
“I went a bit too safe for a time. I was worrying more about not making mistakes than actually playing my game. After a couple of years, I just wasn’t progressing.”
Odegaard then took one step backwards to take many forwards when he decided to leave the confines of the biggest club in the world, to play regular football out on loan. He first joined Heerenveen, before a two-season spell with Real Sociedad.
But it was his decision to join Arsenal in 2021 which saw his career pit back on an upward curve and his reputation quickly repaired. After an impressive loan spell, he was signed permanently in the very next window, quickly establishing himself as a key player in an upwardly mobile team.
Arteta would make him captain before the start of his second full season in north London, a clear sign of his growing influence. And under the Spaniard, he has now emerged as one of the best midfield players in a league Arsenal are now in the driving seat to win.
His stunning form had even heightened concern that his old club could look to bring him back to Madrid, with the £30million the Gunners paid for him now looking like a snip. During the negotiations to make his stay a permanent one, it was widely reported that the LaLiga giants had demanded a buyback clause be inserted into the deal.
Madrid regularly include such options when allowing players to leave, ensuring they can be re-signed at a below-cost value. However, it has since emerged that Edu managed to get his signing over the line without such a clause included.
And Odegaard’s revelation over his very first transfer decision highlight the importance of getting that done. Arsenal were actually in the mix to sign him as a precocious teenager, with Arsene Wenger meeting him and his father on several occasions.
Ultimately though, it was Madrid he chose, explaining that decision he added: “So, why Real Madrid then? I talked about it a lot with my dad and the rest of my family. In the end, Madrid is Madrid. They were the Champions League holders with the best players in the world.”
Madrid may still be Madrid, the team Odegaard dreamt about playing for when he was a youngster. But they will be like every other team in the world if they ever wanted to negotiate a deal to bring him back.
