‘Equal’… Pundit says Arsenal have another player who’s just as good a leader as Martin Odegaard

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Let’s be honest, Arsenal have had some terrible captains over the years.

William Gallas, Granit Xhaka and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang all had spells with the armband that were ended prematurely as the manager stripped them of their duties, but now, the Gunners’ leadership situation finally seems to be stable.

Martin Odegaard is a model professional and a great leader, and according to Adrian Clarke, speaking on the Handbrake Off Podcast, Arsenal have another player who is primed for the captaincy role.

Indeed, Clarke reckons that Declan Rice is an equal to Odegaard in terms of leadership in this team, claiming that he loves how much responsibility the midfielder is willing to take on the pitch.

Rice as good a leader as Odegaard

Clarke shared his verdict on the England international.

“I said on the show last night and I wasn’t being naughty but that goal was captain to captain. We have two, Martin wears the armband but Declan Rice is his equal in this side in terms of leadership. What I liked from this performance from Declan was the responsibility he consistently wanted to take, he wanted the ball all the time, he was really busy. It’s a great run and a brilliant header, Rice is a big old unit and that goal should give him encouragement to do that more often,” Clarke said.

Brilliant position to be in

Rice and Odegaard both have claims to stake for the Arsenal captaincy, and that’s a brilliant position for Arsenal to be in.

For so long there was something of a leadership vacuum at the Emirates, but now, the Gunners are blessed with a number of players who are great dressing room influences.

Let’s not forget, the likes of Oleksandr Zinchenko and Gabriel Jesus are also very influential leaders too.

Arsenal’s dressing room dynamics are fantastic at the moment, and Mikel Arteta should be over the moon about that.