Can Odegaard Change Arsenal’s Fortunes?

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Most fans with Arsenal tickets think the league battle is still ongoing, at least after they heard the good news that their captain, Martin Odegaard, is back in training and will soon be ready for the next few games of the Premier League. 

But pundits question if it is a little too late. Arsenal is way off the top of the points table, and they will need a massive stint in the Premier League to get back on level terms with Liverpool and Manchester City, who are rightly trying to break away from the lot. 

The numbers make for ugly viewing for Arsenal. Having lost only one of their first 25 Premier League matches of 2024, the Gunners have now lost two of their last three.

Bournemouth and Newcastle’s defeat marks their first successive away league defeat since May 2022. Ever since the Arteta plan came into action, fans with Arsenal tickets were not used to seeing their team fumble back-to-back in the earlier seasons. 

But the question is whether Arsenal is declining or rolling back everything they’ve worked for in the last two seasons. 

Seven points off leaders Liverpool and fifth in the Premier League, the temptingly simple answer would be yes. But the Arsenal camp will be confident that Martin Odegaard’s return will remediate their recent blip.

His absence due to ankle ligament damage suffered on Norway duty has coincided with an alarming drop-off in the team’s creativity.

Arteta has been forced to park his favored 4-2-3-1 system and instead adopt a 4-4-2 while Odegaard has been out. Yet the idea of whichever player partner Kai Havertz dropping back to become an auxiliary No10 has only created confusion.

That, and the double pivot’s inability to create from deep, has revealed how crucial a cog Odegaard is in the Arsenal machine. Mikel Merino delivered his worst display yet in an Arsenal shirt in Saturday’s 1-0 defeat at Newcastle, hooked after 61 ineffectual minutes.

Declan Rice’s set-piece deliveries invariably failed to clear the first man, and Arteta threw 17-year-old Ethan Nwaneri on with half an hour to play as he scrambled around for a creative spark.

Arsenal mustered just one shot on target all game, their 64 percent share of possession having largely consisted of vacuous passing from left to right that lacked purpose, risk, and invention.

It said a lot that Arteta replied so curtly when asked whether the Newcastle loss had illustrated the damaging impact of Odegaard’s absence.

“Yeah, [but] we don’t have him,” the Arsenal boss snapped. “We can discuss that all day long. We haven’t had him for the last four or six weeks, and we don’t have him yet.

“But we have many other answers that have been very effective. Today, we must look at ourselves, congratulate Newcastle, and move on.”

Arteta will know that Odegaard’s return is his team’s best hope of rediscovering their attacking ingenuity. 

This period has shown that he has yet to find a viable understudy. The 25-year-old registered 18 goal contributions in the Premier League alone last season; none of Arteta’s other midfielders are of a profile capable of replicating such an end product in the final third.

Throughout the last season and in the summer window, those with Arsenal tickets have been quite vocal about the side not getting the services of a full-time striker. Before the start of the season, Arteta was confident that Kai Havertz could take on the role, but that experiment has failed. 

Odegaard has been on the grass for almost a month now for the final stages of his rehab. During that time, Arsenal only beat Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League and Preston in the Carabao Cup.

The defeat to Inter Milan furthers Arsenal’s case for disappointment. The 1-0 defeat exposed Arsenal further. Despite a second-half attacking display, the side could not overturn the 1st half goal, and that showed that the team still lacks some intent in finding the attacking opportunity – something that a more advanced professional striker could master. 

The side currently sits 12th in the UEFA Champions League table. Those with Arsenal tickets believe that the team will scrape through to the next round, but the side still needs more work to cement their position. 

Now, the onus is on Odegaard to see what he can do to turn things around. The lack of a one-on-one substitution for the Norweigian might have dented Arsenal’s title hopes, but the side will surely need to focus on acquiring a backup in the January transfer window. 

Arsenal Looking for Jhon Duran Signing

Arsenal’s opening bid of £46m for Aston Villa striker Jhon Duran was rejected out of hand.

Duran enjoys an eye-catching second season in the Premier League after joining Villa in January 2023. However, he is still yet to nail down a regular starting spot, with Unai Emery favoring Ollie Watkins up front.

Having only made three starts in all competitions since the start of the campaign, Duran already has eight goals in his name, and the 20-year-old’s performances have caught the attention of Europe’s elite.

Reports last month suggested that both Arsenal and Barcelona had enquired about Duran’s potential availability before the January transfer window. Still, Villa is in no hurry to part with the Colombia international.

Chelsea and West Ham were also credited with an interest in Duran throughout the summer before the forward signed a new contract, extending his stay at Villa Park until 2030.

However, it appears Arsenal are pressing ahead with their pursuit regardless, testing Villa’s resolve with an offer in the region of £46m for Duran, according to Colombian outlet Antena 2.

It’s claimed Villa ‘recently said no’ to the proposal from Arsenal, though, with Emery’s side demanding a fee over £70m for the attacker and refusing to back down on this figure.

Duran’s grievances over a lack of game-time boiled to the surface when he was taken off in the second half of Villa’s Europa League victory over Bologna last month, with the youngster seen kicking a chair in frustration.

But in a recent interview with Sky Sports, the former Chicago Fire star insisted he was ‘very happy’ at Villa and confident of achieving ‘big things’ under Emery’s guidance. 

Duran’s interest level spiked across Europe when he scored the winner for Villa against Bayern Munich, a team that had the perfect record in the UEFA Champions League group stage. 

It will be tough to ask the Gunners to sign Duran this January transfer window. 

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