Martin Odegaard looking to lead Arsenal’s youngsters having ‘been through a lot’

Martin Odegaard does not believe he needs to wear the captain’s armband to be a leader on the pitch for Arsenal.

The 23-year-old is hoping to use his rise as a teenage sensation to help the likes of Bukayo Saka and Emile Smith Rowe cope under the pressure.

The Norway skipper has been spoken about as a potential future Arsenal captain and has seen his leadership abilities talked up by manager Mikel Arteta.

Odegaard has already been playing top-tier football for eight years and, although Alexandre Lacazette, Kieran Tierney and Rob Holding are the go-to for the armband at the moment, he has experience in that area.

“I’ve been through a lot, you know,” he told the PA news agency.

“I went to Real Madrid when I was 16, I played in Norway at 15 and I’ve been to some different clubs on loan and I feel like I’ve been through a lot.

“That helped me to grow up and to feel more confident and to use that in a good way now.

“Of course, it’s a bit more responsibility with being captain for your country but I don’t feel like I’ve changed after that. I think I’m the same person.

I went to Real Madrid when I was 16, I played in Norway at 15 and I've been to some different clubs on loan and I feel like I've been through a lot.- Martin Odegaard

“I would do the same things if I wasn’t the captain there and I would always try to help the team so to me that’s not the most important thing.”

While the move to Madrid was ultimately doomed to fail, Odegaard used the experience, coupled with spells out on loan in Holland, Spain and finally at Arsenal, to develop.

Thrust into the media spotlight at such a tender age could have been the undoing for a player so well protected during his formative years at Stromsgodset – but not for Odegaard.

“I was so