Manchester United’s Luke Shaw was asked to name the best player in the Premier League back in June 2024 – his answer? Arsenal captain, Martin Odegaard.
The Gunners may have missed out on the title that season for the second time in succession, but few could have quibbled with Shaw’s assessment, with Odegaard having been sublime again as the centre-piece of Mikel Arteta‘s side.
Such a delightful footballer to watch in between the lines, the Norwegian genius had racked up 22 goals and assists in the league in 2022/23, before adding a further 19 in that 2023/24 campaign.
Frustratingly, those highs now appear something of a distant memory, following a second year in a row marred by injury and inconsistency.
Why Odegaard has regressed so significantly at Arsenal
The obvious answer, of course, might well be injury, with Odegaard having missed 36 games for club and country since the start of 2024/25, as per Transfermarkt.
Those repeated stints on the sidelines certainly haven’t helped, but there is more at play here, with the 27-year-old’s performances having dipped even when he has featured of late.
Perhaps, the ex-Real Madrid man is merely a victim of Arteta’s change in style, the Spaniard seemingly pursuing a win-at-all-costs approach with his physically dominant and relentless set-up.
It is to Arteta’s credit that he has managed to fashion such a brutal winning machine, with the brand of football that delighted the purists in 2023/24 having seen the Gunners left empty-handed.
It was that fluid, free-flowing football that suited Odegaard, with the left-footer pulling the strings in his right-sided number eight or number ten berth, having created 17 ‘big chances’ and averaged 2.9 key passes per game that season.
For comparison, he has since only created five ‘big chances’ in 2025/26, averaging just 1.6 key passes per game, with Arsenal’s patient approach arguably at odds with the playmaker’s desire to speed up the tempo and thread balls in behind.
In a team of giants and physical specimens, Odegaard looks a little out of place these days, with his decline no doubt being sped up somewhat by his direct replacement.
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Even in a season that could end with a remarkable quadruple, there is a sense, excitingly, that the Gunners still aren’t even firing on all cylinders, particularly in the forward line.
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That may well see a changing of the guard on the flanks before too long, with Max Dowman gunning for Bukayo Saka’s right-wing berth, while centrally too, Odegaard’s previously nailed-on playmaking role has been snatched away by Eberechi Eze.
Now, there’s no denying it’s not been a perfect start to life in north London for the former Crystal Palace man, with Eze notably enduring a difficult spell over the festive period, having not even made it onto the pitch in four Premier League games in succession.
His derby hat-trick against the club he came close to signing for, Tottenham Hotspur, looked like an anomaly for much of the campaign, although as he so often does, the 27-year-old has come alive at the crunch stage of the season.
For context, this is typically the period where Eze thrives, having racked up 32 of his 65 total Premier League goal involvements between just March and May, during his time at Palace and now Arsenal.
|
Eze’s PL record – March onwards |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Season |
Goals |
Assist |
|
2025/26* |
2 |
0 |
|
2024/25 |
6 |
2 |
|
2023/24 |
6 |
3 |
|
2022/23 |
6 |
1 |
|
2021/22 |
1 |
1 |
|
2020/21 |
1 |
3 |
|
Total |
22 |
10 |
Another dazzling derby display has been followed by the Englishman’s stunning winner against Mansfield Town in the FA Cup, having then gone one better with his majestic opener in Tuesday’s Champions League clash with Bayer Leverkusen.
There’s been so much talk about his best role in this side, but that matters not, with Eze floating around to devastating effect, much like Santi Cazorla in his pomp.
The diminutive Spaniard, a man for the spectacular himself as his 2014 FA Cup final free-kick showcased, was another not shackled to a specific role, having drifted here, there and everywhere, popping up in pockets to wreak havoc on the opposition.
Eze may not boast quite the same ambipedal quality as Cazorla, but he can pick a pass or win a game himself in equal measure, with his tally of 15 goals and assists this season not too far behind Cazorla’s return of 25 in his debut campaign at the Emirates.
Arteta has previously been asked about the potential likeness to his compatriot and former teammate, alongside Tomas Rosicky, and certainly didn’t bat away such talk:
“They have a different feel of the ball, everything glides & moves so smoothly. They are beautiful to watch, the way they carry the ball, take touches, turn. Ebere, for sure, has got this talent.”
Either way, he’s coming good at the right time, and with Odegaard no longer to be relied upon, Eze is showcasing that he can be the creative, goalscoring lynchpin under Arteta’s watch.
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