Martin Odegaard has looked a man transformed in the early stages of the 2026/27 campaign, and Arsenal might have the World Cup to thank.
Some of the talk about Martin Odegaard during the 2025/26 campaign perhaps went over the top.
Billy Carpenter highlighted in May that no one in the Premier League was playing more through balls per 90 than the Arsenal captain, no one was making more passes breaking the final line, and Odegaard also ranked in the top-10 for open-play assists, chances created, and expected assists.
Yet the general perception of the 27-year-old was that he was having a very underwhelming year, with many even suggesting the time might have come to sell.
A big part of that was the midfielder’s injury situation, with Transfermarkt data suggesting he had seven distinct injury absences in that one season.
Given Odegaard also missed 15 matches through illness and injury in 2024/25, there were fears he’d never again be able to build up the momentum he’d achieved in previous campaigns with Arsenal.
On top of that, 2025/26 was a very low-scoring season for Odegaard. Only one goal in 36 appearances is far from the form he’d shown previously, putting up double figures for goalscoring in 2022/23 and 2023/24.
Whether they will admit it or not, goals massively impact the average fan’s view of a player.
Gabriel Magalhaes has been excellent for Arsenal for years, but he probably never got more praise than during last season’s run of corner goals. Now Odegaard is getting the same treatment, after four goals in his first five games of the new season.
When you look at the creative stats, Odegaard is operating at a similar level to last season. But the way he’s being talked about couldn’t be more different.
That isn’t to say there weren’t obvious areas that Odegaard’s game did dip last season, and the big one was how he dealt with physicality.
After multiple freak contact injuries, Odegaard understandably and visibly became more wary of throwing himself into challenges. When the risk is another month on the sidelines, the reward of winning the ball doesn’t seem as compelling.
On that front, the World Cup was excellent for the player. The Norway captain had the strongest possible motivation to overcome his own hesitance, leading his country on the biggest stage in football.
And it went very well. Odegaard provided four assists in five games, and he completed 90 (or 120) minutes in four of those five matches. In the one game he didn’t provide an assist – against Brazil – he was widely praised by his opponents after running the show.
Odegaard himself spoke about the benefits of his summer last month, saying: “It’s hard when you always go in and out, and sometimes you play maybe not 100% fit.
“I feel good now, my body’s good. I’ve had a good summer, good World Cup, good pre-season. Now I’m feeling 100%, so that always helps. So I feel great.”
Wednesday’s performance against Napoli was one of Odegaard’s best in an Arsenal shirt. The midfielder helped his team to suffocate the hosts, creating chance after chance, and when none of his teammates could find a finish, he fired one in off the post from outside the box.
With four Player of the Match awards in five games, Odegaard has pretty clearly been Arsenal’s Player of the Season so far.
It’s only a month of football, not nearly enough to say that Odegaard is now injury-free and ready to maintain this level of performance for years to come. As always in football, the challenge is to keep going again for as long as you still can.
But if Arsenal’s focus is now shifting from the transfer market to extending contracts, Odegaard’s deal expiring in 2028 is one of the first they should be looking at.
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