Martin Odegaard Takes Control of Arsenal’s Summer Story
Martin Odegaard did not just score. He took control of Arsenal’s summer story.
Ghosting into space early in the second half of the Community Shield, the captain shaped his body, sent Gianluigi Donnarumma to ground, and rolled in Arsenal’s third. Two minutes after the restart in Cardiff, the contest with Manchester City was effectively over. The silverware, once again, was in his hands.
Yes, it is only the Community Shield. A glorified friendly to some, a superstition trap to others — no team has won it and then lifted the Premier League since 2018/19. But this felt like something else for Arsenal. This looked like the night their attack remembered its most important weapon.
A captain with a point to prove
Odegaard already has his place in Arsenal folklore. The captain who finally hoisted the Premier League trophy in May, ending 22 years of waiting, is not easily forgotten.
Yet last season left him unsatisfied. At 27, entering what should be his peak, he spent too long watching from the sidelines. Knee and shoulder problems disrupted any rhythm, limiting him to just 16 league starts. Across 36 appearances in all competitions, he found the net only once.
The debate began. Eberechi Eze’s name floated around as a potential upgrade. Some even wondered if Declan Rice should inherit the armband.
Mikel Arteta never flinched.
“He missed five or six months for different things and it was extremely difficult for him to get any momentum,” the Arsenal manager said after the win. “I’m sure this year if we can maintain him fit, available with the players around him, we’re going to see a very different Martin.”
The Community Shield suggested that “different Martin” has already arrived.
Transfer wait, internal solution
Arsenal’s transfer plan has been clear: add more firepower. They chased Morgan Rogers. They looked at Vinicius Jr. The idea of an elite left winger has hung over the club for several windows.
That pursuit has stalled. Viable, top-level options have thinned out as the summer has dragged on, and the identity of a true “statement” signing is now uncertain.
So the picture has shifted. Instead of waiting for a marquee forward to walk through the door, Arsenal may have stumbled on a simpler, more powerful upgrade: a fully fit, fully confident Martin Odegaard.
The need is mutual. The team require their creative heartbeat back at full volume. Odegaard, now into the final two years of his contract, knows this period will likely define his last big long-term deal. Perform now, and he sets the terms of his own future.
“Missing so many games was really frustrating, but I’ve used it as motivation to come back stronger,” the captain said. The evidence backs him up.
Back to his old levels – and then some
Against City, the goal was the headline moment, but not the full story. Odegaard’s clipped cross helped create Arsenal’s second. His touches stitched together a dominant attacking display.
Last season, he often looked a yard off the pace, particularly in duels. Hesitation crept in, understandable after repeated setbacks. That version of Odegaard was nowhere to be seen in Cardiff.
He snapped into challenges, won five of his seven duels, and topped the pitch for ball recoveries. The numbers painted the picture his body language had already told: the caution has gone. The sharpness is back.
This resurgence has not come out of nowhere. Odegaard carried strong form out of the World Cup, where only Michael Olise recorded more assists than him. He then took three weeks off to reset, spending that time with his wife and young son before reporting back for pre-season.
“It was massive for me,” he said. “Last year was really a big struggle with a lot of difficult moments. That’s the worst thing for a footballer, to not be on the pitch. I had quite a lot of weird injuries and bad luck.
“It was good to end it with the title here and then a good World Cup. Then I had my break. Now I feel good.
“After last season, to miss so many games is really frustrating. What I’ve done is use that as motivation for this year and come back stronger.”
Arteta noticed the change immediately.
“I sense from the first day that he joined that he has something else in the belly that he wants to prove and show because the team needs it as well,” the manager said.
New tools around him
The timing could hardly be better. Odegaard only made his first pre-season appearance just over a week before the Shield, playing 30 minutes against Borussia Dortmund and slicing them open twice with through balls.
He will not have to do it alone. With Bruno Guimaraes now in the squad, Arsenal gain extra technical security and progressive passing from deeper areas. That should feed directly into Odegaard’s strengths — more crisp passes fired through the lines, more chances to receive between the lines and unpick defences.
Arsenal’s title win last season was built from the back. They did it without an elite striker and with wingers who never quite found consistent top form. That platform should remain. The question now is whether they can squeeze more from what they already have up front.
There is every reason to believe they can. Bukayo Saka, Arteta insists, has put his Achilles issues behind him. Christos Tzolis already looks like an upgrade on the left, offering the directness and variety Arsenal have long craved in that channel.
Drop a fully firing Odegaard into that mix, and the attack starts to look very different.
The ceiling-raiser
We have seen what peak Odegaard looks like in this league. In 2022/23, he scored 15 Premier League goals and supplied seven assists. The following season, he finished with eight goals and 11 assists despite the disruptions.
An ankle problem then stalled his progress, and injuries became a recurring theme. Rhythm disappeared. So did the fluency in Arsenal’s final third.
The Community Shield hinted that the old patterns are returning. Not just the disguised passes and cute flicks, but the authority, the pressing, the leadership in the tightest areas of the pitch.
Arsenal still want that big attacking signing. They may yet get it. But the most important shift in their forward line might already be underway, driven not by a new arrival but by their captain rediscovering his full range.
Odegaard has already lifted the league trophy once as Arsenal’s leader. If he stays at this level, the question is no longer whether he can do it again — it is how far he can drag this attack with him.
