Arteta can end Odegaard’s Arsenal career by unleashing their “own Foden”

It’s been a Premier League weekend of mixed emotions for Arsenal.

On the one hand, Manchester City were comprehensively beaten by their rivals on Saturday morning.

Yet, on the other hand, Mikel Arteta’s side failed to take full advantage, extending their lead over Pep Guardiola’s side to just seven points due to their inability to beat struggling Nottingham Forest at the City Ground.

It was a game to forget for the whole Arsenal team, but particularly Martin Odegaard, who could eventually see himself replaced by Arteta’s own Phil Foden-esque star.

Odegaard’s dire display vs Forest

Now, it should be said that Odegaard wasn’t alone in letting down the fans and manager on Saturday evening.

However, his performance was more disappointing than most of his teammates, not least because, as captain, he should be held to a higher standard.

However, for practically the entire first half, and for the time he was on the pitch in the second, he was wholly ineffective, bordering on anonymous.

That might sound overly harsh, but it’s an opinion shared by the Standard’s Arthur Ferridge, who awarded the Norwegian a 4/10 match rating, writing that he ‘struggled to get involved.’

Unsurprisingly, the Drammen-born ace’s statistics more than back up such claims.

In his 56 minutes of action, he played a single key pass, completed just 18 passes, failed to take a shot, failed in 100% of his dribbles, lost 50% of his duels, lost the ball seven times and took just 27 touches.

What makes the performance even worse is the fact that, with a win, the Gunners could have moved nine points clear of City.

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Moreover, it’s not the first time the former Real Madrid wonderkid has disappointed this season, having put in a similar performance against Liverpool in the last gameweek.

In all, the whole team needs to step up their game for the rest of the season, and if Odegaard fails to do the same, he could eventually find himself replaced with one of Arteta’s most exciting talents.

The Arsenal gem who could replace Odegaard

While there is an argument for Eberechi Eze to come in and replace Odegaard in the immediate future, the player who feels like he could eventually end the captain’s Arsenal career is Ethan Nwaneri.

Sure, it’s not going to happen this season, and it might not even happen next year, but, for several reasons, the idea of the Hale Ender eventually being the one to replace the captain does not feel all that far-fetched.

The first is his positional versatility.

Like his captain, the teenage phenom is someone who is most at home in an attacking midfield role, but does tend to drift ever so slightly out to the right.

This was one of the reasons he was so good at covering for Bukayo Saka at points last season.

Speaking of last year, the second reason the “phenomenal talent,” as dubbed by Sky pundit Stephen Warnock, could be the perfect long-term replacement for the Norwegian is his output.

For example, in 37 appearances, totalling 1378 minutes, the young Englishman scored nine goals and provided two assists.

That came out to an excellent average of a goal involvement every 3.36 games, or, more crucially, one every 125.27 minutes, which would be impressive for a seasoned professional, let alone a youth player.

Moreover, it’s this ability to pop up with goals, and some seriously impressive ones at that, which led to one analyst’s claim that “Ethan Nwaneri will be Arsenal’s version of Phil Foden”

Ultimately, while fans are justifiably upset following Saturday’s performance, things are still looking incredibly positive for Arsenal this season.

However, if Odegaard doesn’t start getting back to the player he was a couple of years ago, he could eventually be replaced by Nwaneri.

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