Nigel Winterburn hails new Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard as ‘absolutely incredible’ and teases more signings

Nigel Winterburn has praised Mikel Arteta’s decision to appoint ‘absolutely incredible’ Martin Odegaard as Arsenal’s new captain.

Odegaard has been handed the captain’s armband on a permanent basis ahead of the 2022-23 season, with Arteta opting for a change in tactic having rotated his captains last term.

The 23-year-old has made a significant impact at the Emirates since his move from Real Madrid in January 2021, playing 60 games for the Gunners and establishing himself as one of their most consistent players.

Odegaard has been the Norway captain since March 2021 and Winterburn believes he was the standout candidate for the role at Arsenal.

‘I’m pleased that they’ve chose somebody and Martin Odegaard is captain of the national team, so it seems a good move,’ Winterburn told Metro.co.uk.

‘I’m hearing that Mikel Arteta likes him as a leader, so I think it’s a good decision. Last season I hated this rotation of captains, it wasn’t for me, and I didn’t agree with it.

‘When I played, I knew who my captain was, Tony Adams was the captain if he was fit, and it was something I never used to worry about.

‘I don’t know whether that’s because things were different, and we had such a strong group of players that we never even gave it a second thought.

‘Tony was a great captain, so it wasn’t a worry for our team, but sometimes that captain role is to just relay things back to your manager.

‘We’ll have to wait and see how it goes with Odegaard, it will be interesting in periods of games when things aren’t going right for Arsenal.

‘Will it be Odegaard’s responsibility to relay what the manager wants to the other players within a game? I would hope that isn’t the case because all of the players should be big enough to make their own decisions.

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