‘It’s astonishing’: Martin Keown amazed by the improvement 24-year-old Arsenal player has made

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Martin Keown has lauded Martin Odegaard for the way he has improved during his time at Arsenal after making his return to the Champions League on Wednesday night.

Keown was speaking to TNT Sports (broadcast on 20/9; 22:06) after the Gunners beat PSV Eindhoven 4-0 in their opening group-stage game at the Emirates.

Martin Odegaard played a starring role as Arsenal blew PSV away. It was his shot that led to the opening goal. And he rounded off the scoring with a brilliant strike into the bottom corner during a second-half which felt more like a procession for Arsenal.

The 24-year-old has started this campaign in fine form, with two goals already coming in the Premier League.

It is scary to think that Odegaard may not even be at his peak. He has been an absolutely inspired choice for the Gunners captaincy. And he appears ready to pick up where he left off last season.

Keown lauds Odegaard after Arsenal win

Of course, Odegaard has come a long way since when he initially arrived at Arsenal. At the time, there appeared to be real concern that he would never realise his full potential having been someone many football fans have known about since he was 15, if not earlier.

His time with Real Madrid did not really go to plan. But Keown believes that he deserves enormous credit for the way he has proved so many people wrong in the last few years.

“It’s astonishing how he’s risen in the game,” he told TNT Sports. “It was his third Champions League game, his first goal in Champions League football. He was at Real Madrid for many, many years and not really doing it. He won three Champions Leagues while he was there. But look at how he’s come back and he’s really controlling games.”

It is going to be fascinating to see how far Arsenal go in the competition. The Gunners know how dangerous PSV can be. And there were moments where they needed some excellent defending.

And yet, they largely brushed them aside. They made a real statement and arguably already have one foot in the knockout stages when you consider the group they are in.

And with game-changers such as Odegaard in the ranks, Arsenal have the potential to battle against anyone put in front of them.