When Christian Norgaard’s agent called up with news of Arsenal’s interest in him, the player didn’t initially accept the call.
Christian Norgaard made the move from Brentford to Arsenal this summer, joining the Gunners with the chance to play in the Champions League for the first time in his career.
It didn’t take long for that ambition to become a reality, with Norgaard making his debut against Athletic Club last month. Yet Norgaard admits that when Arsenal first made contact, he didn’t pick up his agent’s call.
“I first heard about Arsenal before our last game with Brentford against Wolverhampton,” Norgaard recalls.
“I was actually sitting with a friend at home. I saw that my agent had called, and I thought ‘oh my, it’ll have to wait until another time.’ Then he wrote if we could just talk – ‘Arsenal have called’.”
Once he’d seen that, Norgaard quickly called his agent back.
“I said we should try to do everything we can. It’s simply too big an opportunity not to try to go for it,” Norgaard adds.
“I was so settled with Brentford, where I had signed a two-year contract. It was a huge surprise for me.
“It was very much driven by Mikel Arteta. He thought I had played really well against them and generally for Brentford.”
The deal ultimately went ahead, with Arsenal confirming the transfer less than two months after that initial contact between player and club. But things haven’t all gone smoothly since then, with a positive pre-season followed by an injury at the start of the competitive campaign.
Norgaard was unavailable for the first four games of the Premier League season, and he’s since returned to find fellow summer signing Martin Zubimendi established in his position.
Even so, Norgaard has made his Champions League debut, he’s made his first start in the 2-0 League Cup win over Port Vale, and he remains in the Denmark squad for the October internationals.
“In terms of playing time, I knew exactly what role I was going into,” Norgaard insists. “The few minutes in Bilbao were amazing.
“They looked at me strangely in the dressing room. How can you be so happy for five minutes? They’re all fighting to start, but I’d never played in the Champions League before and with the Arsenal logo on my chest.”
With any luck, Norgaard will have plenty more minutes on the pitch this season, and a trophy or two at the end of it.