Odegaard says Arsenal realised immediately £32m star was special

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Martin Odegaard says that everyone at Arsenal realised that Oleksandr Zinchenko would give the club something special on the first day at his Emirates.

Oleksandr Zinchenko, of course, moved to Arsenal for a fee of £32 million in the summer. He had previously struggled to really establish himself as a key man at Manchester City.

However, Martin Odegaard has now suggested to the Men In Blazers podcast that Arsenal got an idea almost straight away of just how much of an impact Zinchenko would have for Mikel Arteta’s side.

Odegaard lauds Zinchenko

The Ukrainian has had a mixed first season on the pitch. Unfortunately, he has struggled with a couple of injuries. However, you would not know that from how influential the 26-year-old seems to have been.

Zinchenko is someone the fans can relate to as every goal clearly means the world to the versatile left-back. And as the end of his first season in North London approaches, Odegaard outlined just how important Zinchenko has been to the Gunners.

“Since the first day when he came to the club, everyone just realised that he will give us something special,” he told Men In Blazers.

“Amazing player, the quality he has on the ball. But also he’s a winner, he always wants to win. And he brings a lot of energy every day, always give 100 percent, always fights for the team. And he has a lot of passion for the game. He’s a great guy to have in the team.”

You can understand why Pep Guardiola allowed Gabriel Jesus and Zinchenko to leave Manchester City for Arsenal in the summer.

Guardiola has never stopped a player from leaving if they wish to. And neither man had really ever been amongst the superstars at the Etihad.

He also could not have really foreseen just how good Arsenal would be this season, even with his experience of working alongside Mikel Arteta.

But in years to come, the sales of Jesus and Zinchenko are going to be looked back upon as a massive moment if Arsenal go on and win the title.

Obviously, the title is the objective right now. But if they manage it, you would imagine that Zinchenko is not going to allow Arsenal to stop there.