Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard has been reflecting on his journey from Norway to North London, following the Gunners' title victory.
Odegaard is the first Arsenal skipper since Patrick Vieira in 2004 to win the league in North London and the first of the Emirates Stadium era, with the stadium having opened 20 years ago this summer.
Speaking exclusively with FourFourTwo, the Norway international reflected his journey from a gravel pitch to the Premier League and the influence of his father, Hans Erik, a fellow professional footballer.
'I don’t know if I'd be surprised' Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard reflects on his childhood and ending up in North London
While most players have ‘pinch me’ moments throughout their career, Arsenal's captain has told FourFourTwo that if you were to tell a younger Odegaard that he would be playing in the Premier League one day, it may not come as a shock.
“I don’t know if he’d be surprised,” Odegaard says. “If you went back to that kid, you’d see that he always believed in himself.
“He believed he was going to make it, that he was going to be a footballer. So he’d probably say, ‘I was right.’
“There would be a few things he’d be surprised about, of course, but I think he would be happy; happy to see where I am now – to be playing for one of the biggest clubs in the world, in what’s probably the toughest and biggest league in the world, and in the next World Cup! Yes, he’d be happy.”
With Odegaard's father a renowned player at Stromsgodset in Drammen, Norway – the club that Odegaard Jr made his debut for at just 15 years and 118 days, becoming the youngest player ever to take the pitch in Norway’s top flight.
Hans Erik Odegaard even funded a pitch for his son's youth team while helping to train the boy who would go on to be signed by Real Madrid as a teenager.
“The first game I remember watching in a stadium was one of my dad’s,” says Odegaard.
“I was maybe five or six. He trained me, and we’d stay after sessions working together. I spent a lot of time with him doing individual work. He taught me the importance of work ethic – to always train hard.
“From a young age, I just wanted to be the best.”
All those years later, it's safe to say it paid off – with the Premier League's first-ever title-winning captain from Norway.
