Paul Merson's brutal pre-season comments on Martin Odegaard have well and truly backfired after the Gunners midfielder put on another midfield masterclass for Arsenal on Sunday.
Odegaard pulled the strings in Sunday's 3-2 win over Watford and even fired home the opening goal.
The Norwegian midfielder has had to be patient this year, but since he's muscled his way into Mikel Arteta's starting line-up, his influence on the team has grown in recent weeks.
And his red-hot form has left Merson with egg on his face after his brutal verdict on Arsenal's decision to sign the ex-Real Madrid man permanently back in the summer.
Merson previously told the Daily Star: "Mikel Arteta is making a mistake signing Martin Odegaard – and his job could soon be on the line.
Join the debate! Do you Arsenal have what it takes to clinch a top-four finish? Let us know here.
"What are they doing signing Odegaard? If Odegaard really wanted to be at Arsenal he would have signed at the end of his loan.
"But he didn’t want to join them. He wanted to go back to Real Madrid. In days gone by that would have been it. Arsenal would have said – sorry, you’ve had your chance. Next!
"He didn’t exactly pull up any trees on loan did he? He only scored two goals! I think it’s a mistake. I think it’s another lazy signing. No other Premier League team was going for him."
Odegaard has emphatically improved his returns this season; his strike against the Hornets was his fifth in all competitions. The 23-year-old has also racked up four assists and has seemingly found form just at the right time for Arsenal.
While Merson may not have been convinced by Odegaard, Arteta has never doubted the playmaker's quality.
He's even talked up Odegaard as a future Gunners captain in the wake of his recent performances.
And he saw Odegaard fire back with the perfect response after Arteta had challenged his midfield maestro to get involved in more goals to emphasis his growing influence on the team.
"He needs to play close to the opponents' box, for sure," Arteta admitted before the weekend.
"He needs to create more goals, he needs to score more goals, he needs to make more runs in behind, he needs to be closer to the strikers to give them support, and he can do that.
"He needs to score more free kicks. He can still contribute more on our set pieces. His defensive work is phenomenal.
"There are areas where he can only get better, and the only way to get better is to agree on them, and then practise."
Sunday's triumph could be a crucial point in the season for the Gunners, who are now in pole position to clinch the final Champions League spot.
Their victory coincided with a thumping defeat for Manchester United, who are now a point behind Arsenal, but, have crucially played three games more than the Londoners.
