Martin Odegaard ‘moving in the right way’ towards Arsenal captain’s armband

Mikel Arteta has hailed Martin Odegaard’s natural leadership qualities but has called on the Norway captain to add more goals to his game.

Odegaard, 23, has been touted as a future Arsenal skipper and has been in fine form in recent months.

Signed permanently from Real Madrid in the summer having spent the second half of last season on loan at the Emirates Stadium, Odegaard has played a pivotal role in turning the Gunners into Champions League contenders.

With Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang allowed to leave for Barcelona in January, Alexandre Lacazette has been installed as captain for now – but he is out of contract in the summer.

Arteta insisted recently he is not worried about who his long-term skipper will be but was full of praise for Odegaard’s credentials.

“He is moving in the right way,” Arteta said. “He is the national team captain. He is one of the senior players here, for sure, even at his age, and it comes very natural to him.”

Recently, Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola told Jack Grealish not to concern himself with his goals and assists – “Statistics never existed before,” he said.

“It’s how you play today if you perform to your maximum, to your best, help your team-mates to make the process defensively and offensively better – it’s enough.”

For Arteta, Odegaard is a similar player – where statistics do not show how important his contribution is.

He’s phenomenal to work with. He’s developing areas of his game that we discussed, that he agreed, and that we believed could help him impact matches.

“Martin for us is a really important player, that’s for sure,” he said.

“He’s showing that every single week. He’s phenomenal to work with. He’s developing areas of his game that we discussed, that he agreed, and that we