Laura Woods has admitted she made a mistake after downplaying the impact Martin Odegaard will make at Arsenal.
The Norwegian spent the second half of the 2020/2021 season on loan at the Emirates and showed flashes of brilliance, which prompted Mikel Arteta to push to add him to his squad last season.
The Spaniard seemed obsessed with the player, but some fans and pundits were unconvinced by the move and didn’t think Odegaard was worth signing.
Woods was one of them, but as he shines in the Premier League to help Arsenal stay at the top of the league table, she admits she got it wrong, saying on Talk Sport:
“I think a lot of people were sleeping on Arsenal in general. I think while that was happening, Mikel Arteta was knitting together this amazing plan that he had.
“I think a lot of credit needs to go to the hierarchy for backing Arteta and backing his vision.
“When you look at the players he brought in and you look at the price tag, I said, “Martin Odegaard for £30m?’. I hate myself for questioning that, I hate myself for that.”
Just Arsenal Opinion
Most people, including Arsenal fans, did not think Odegaard was worth signing and were against the transfer from the beginning.
However, he has proven to be a good buy and deserves the respect he is getting from the public now as one of the finest midfielders around.
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Mikel Arteta compares Arsenal captain Odegaard to De Bruyne
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Have a lot of time for Laura but that’s how narratives work they get started and if your not paying enough close attention it escapes you. In her role she needs to roll with the narratives because otherwise your putting yourself out there.
Odegaard was always likely going to be a success he was the highest rated youth player since Messi and more importantly he came to us half a season after a very successful period at Sociedad.
Honestly do not understand why there was no competition for his signature. Know why real couldn’t keep him, finances and annoying him by not trusting him.
To think that some arsenal fans also doubt this guy is crazy. Some said he is nt a big game player. For most arsenal fans when a player had 1 or 2 bad game it’s over, the player is sh*t.
Since Odegaard has allayed the skepticism of his skeptics to be performing very well for Arsenal in games week in week out. The skepticism imputed against him is therefore over.
What is important mow as it’s concerned him is for him to maintain the high level of performance in top form he has reached at Arsenal. And keep it going to not allow it to dip. But up it improving on it as examplary for others in the team to follow.
I feel people had doubts about him because he wasn’t a standout player during his loan spell and the first half of last season, and were expecting him to be the identifiable focal point of the offense with his reputation of wonderkid and a Real Madrid loanee.
I think what pundits and even some of us fans didn’t realize at the time, was that he was tidy and kept the play moving. Arteta’s system was still being worked out. As the system has been worked out and Ode has gained confidence and experience with the team, I think now you’re seeing him become one of the top MFs in the league. $30m was definitely a steal for the return we’re getting now.
I had my doubts about Mikel Arteta but once he signed Martin on loan I knew that we The Arsenal have been blessed with a manager who knows what he’s doing.
I watched Martin when he was on loan at Real Sociedad. He is the reason I still follow the Spanish club till now.