Each time Martin Odegaard speaks, it becomes that little bit clearer as to why Arsenal boss Mikel Arteta chose the Norwegian playmaker to take over as club captain.
At just 23 years of age, Odegaard has managed to fit more into his eight years as a senior professional than most do across their entire careers. Propelled into the limelight with his high-profile move to Real Madrid while still only 16, at long last the midfielder looks to have finally found a place he can call home in North London.
Having initially joined the Gunners on loan midway through the 2020/21 season, Arteta was desperate to tie Odegaard down to a permanent contract and got his wish last summer. Arsenal parted ways with £35million to keep the Norway international around the place for a fee that now looks like quite the bargain.
Speaking after the Gunners' most recent fixture, a comfortable 3-0 win away at Bournemouth that saw Odegaard net his first Arsenal brace, the former Real Madrid man declared the need for his side to remain grounded. It would be easy for the midfielder to get a tad ahead of himself - the club are top of the league after three wins from three - but Odegaard boasts the kind of calm authority required from any good skipper.
"Yeah, of course [we have to keep our feet on the ground]," Odegaard told Standard Sport. "We haven’t done anything yet, as you say. As I said before, we have to stay calm, we have to keep working hard and stay humble. We always look for the next game and play every game as a final.
"That’s what we want to do. That’s the mindset now that we have. We go to the next one and try to win that one. We are scoring a lot of goals, so of course we are happy. We have to stay calm and keep working hard and look for the next one already and try to win that one."
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Odegaard's comments read like Arteta had said them himself, such is the striking similarity in the mentality of both Arsenal's manager and captain. The difference a year makes is quite remarkable - at this stage last season, Arsenal were rooted to the bottom of the table with three defeats from three games.
Arsenal squads of old have been criticised for their over-exuberant responses to victories and positive runs of form. The Gunners are no strangers to the odd dressing-room selfie after a win at the midpoint of the season, with plenty of football left to be played.
It seems as if Odegaard is the anthesis of that kind of sentiment and has been selected to don the armband to instil the kind of calmness Arsenal have so often lacked in recent years.
