Alexandre Lacazette is replaced by a midfielder for the Gunners after the striker joins Lyon.
Martin Odegaard has been named as the new captain of Arsenal, the team has announced. Despite just joining the Gunners in 2021, the 23-year-old has already had a significant impact on English football, and Mikel Arteta has chosen to honor him by giving him the captain’s armband.
Odegaard, a former Real Madrid midfielder, first signed a loan agreement with Arsenal in January 2021 because he was having trouble finding regular playing time at the Bernabeu.
The Norwegian made an impression in his first six months with the Gunners, and Arteta decided to sign him to a permanent contract worth £30 million ($41 million) in the summer of that year as a result.
He struggled at the beginning of the 2021–22 season, but he turned things around in the second half and started every game, scoring in the 5–1 victory over Everton on the last day.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang served as Arsenal’s captain for the 2021–22 campaign, although he was relieved of that responsibility in December 2021 due to a breach of club discipline.
The duty was later regularly assumed by Alexandre Lacazette, albeit Arteta was left without a captain for the next 2022–23 season after Lacazette left for Lyon.
Kieran Tierney, Grant Xhaka, and Aaron Ramsdale were all mentioned as potential possibilities, but Arteta has chosen Odegaard. Ramsdale freely said he would like the responsibility of being elected Arsenal captain.
Odegaard has experience leading teams at the international level; the 23-year-old has been leading the Norway national team since March 2021, so when the new season begins, it won’t be the first time he’s been chosen Arsenal captain in a competitive match.
Odegaard had been appointed captain for games on the Gunners’ preseason tour of the United States prior to the official announcement.
In April 2022, when Arsenal defeated Chelsea 4-2 under his leadership, he said to TV2: “It’s big, of sure, but it does not alter much. I feel like I’m doing the same things.
There are more folks nearby that are considering it. But it is a wonderful acknowledgment and a wonderful pledge of faith. I greatly appreciate the compliment, but aside from that, I carry on as usual.
