Mikel Arteta has confirmed that Arsenal held a fresh vote on the club captaincy ahead of the new season, and Martin Odegaard won by “a mile”.
The subject hit the headlines earlier this week when Tony Adams – skipper for 14 years and never shy of an opinion – suggested Declan Rice should be given the role, claiming, “you’re not going to win the league with Odegaard as captain.”
It was a subjective take, but it inevitably sparked debate and was put to Arteta in his first press conference of the season. The manager was ready.
“My opinion is clear. It’s not just my opinion, it’s all the staff and especially the players. I asked them to vote the captain and I got the result yesterday. And by a mile, by a big, big 100 marks, everybody’s choosing the same person, which is Martin Odegaard,” he said.
“That’s the clearest sign you can have of how they feel about who has to be their captain to defend, improve and win the matches that we want to win.”
Arteta explained the vote was part of a wider refresh of the squad’s leadership group.
“We change a lot and we change all the leadership groups because a lot of the players that were there, they are gone. So we need to re-establish that, and it gives you so much information, how they feel about themselves and who they see as a leader. It was really interesting to analyse all the data and gather that information.”
Odegaard first took the armband three years ago after a carousel of predecessors – Lacazette, Aubameyang, Xhaka – and admitted at the time: “I have to do it my way and that’s what I will try to do. I enjoy the responsibility and hopefully I can do it in a good way.”
While he’s never going to be the blood-and-thunder type in the Adams mould, the Norwegian is a meticulous professional and clearly commands the respect of the dressing room.
“We all see it different and if we’re going to talk about leadership and the kind of leaders, we can be here for hours,” he said.
“At the end, what matters the most is how these guys feel about who needs to lead them, how they feel comfortable, who’s going to push them, who’s going to give them support when it’s happening. Basically, who do you want to represent the club and the team when we go out there and face any opposition? That’s the key.”
He didn’t say the name again. He didn’t need to. It’s Martin Odegaard. Sorry, Tony.
