Martin Odegaard compared to Arsenal icon as captain tipped to shine against Chelsea

Martin Odegaard could be transformative for Arsenal once he returns to Mikel Arteta’s starting lineup, according to Ray Parlour.

Odegaard came off the bench for Arsenal during the 1-0 defeat to Inter Milan on Wednesday as he nears full fitness. The attacking midfielder had been out of action since spraining his ankle while on international duty with Norway in September.

While the Arsenal captain could not help his side pick up a result against Inter, as he came on in the final stages of the game, he will be aiming to get the Gunners’ form back on track this weekend.

After losing to both Newcastle United in the Premier League and Inter in the Champions League, Arsenal travel to London rivals Chelsea for a huge Prem clash on Sunday.

Building up to the match, Arsenal hero Parlour compared Odegaard to one of his legendary former team-mates, Dennis Bergkamp, while also backing the 25-year-old to add a much-needed spark to Arteta’s rather dull midfield.

“He’s got the vision, he’s got that creativity,” Parlour said on talkSPORT.

“If you look at the midfield area, you’ve got [Thomas] Partey, Declan Rice when he’s playing, [Mikel] Merino’s come into the side as well, very similar players, really. All very good players, don’t get me wrong. I’d like to see Declan get forward a little bit more when Partey plays.

“But if Odegaard’s in there, he’s that player who takes the ball in tight little situations. He sees a pass, he creates chances.

“When I watched the Newcastle game, they needed that little bit of creativity because Newcastle were very comfortable sitting in front of the defence. The midfield for Newcastle had done a great job, by the way.

“He just can bring something else from the team, a little bit different to the other players they’ve got. He’s a big miss, but I don’t know how fit he is and if he’s recovered. If he’s 80 per cent, play him for 70 minutes, I would.”

Parlour continued: “Well, I look at Bergkamp when I played. I wouldn’t say he [Odegaard] is as good as Bergkamp, but he’s very similar in the way he can see vision and he will create chances.

“What I’m saying is he can get into little areas, he’s a very clever player. You watch his vision when he puts balls through. He knows where the runs are going to come from. Against Newcastle, I didn’t see that. I didn’t see the creativity from Arsenal’s midfield.

“That’s what he can bring to the team if he does come back on the weekend.”

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Meanwhile, Arsenal are reportedly looking at West Ham United chief Tim Steidten as a possible replacement for Edu.

Sporting director Edu left Arsenal fans shocked earlier this week when it emerged that he had decided to leave.

While Edu has agreed to join Evangelos Marinakis’ group of clubs, which includes Nottingham Forest, Steidten is being eyed as his successor. That is despite the German’s underwhelming spell at West Ham so far.

Elsewhere, Arsenal legend Thierry Henry believes Arteta’s side will struggle to win the title if they lose at Chelsea this weekend.

You can read exactly what the former striker had to say here.

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