Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard has praised the summer signings of Oleksandr Zinchenko and Gabriel Jesus from Manchester City, believing they have been an important part of the Gunners' impressive Premier League form. After winning several trophies at Manchester City, Zinchenko and Jesus joined Arsenal at the start of the season, arriving for £32million and £45million, respectively.
After a dominant win over Wolves last Saturday, Arsenal extended the gap between themselves and Manchester City to five points at the top of the Premier League, with the Qatar World Cup pausing the domestic season until December 26.
This means that the Gunners will be top at Christmas and, although far fewer games will have been played by the time the holiday arrives, on only two occasions since 2009 have the team top at Christmas not gone on to win the Premier League title.
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Arsenal have had several brilliant performers this season, with Jesus and Zinchenko settling in seamlessly, while William Saliba has felt like a new signing following his loan spell at Marseille last season, where he won Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year.
Through Mikel Arteta being allowed time to instil his ideas and methods into a young and hungry Arsenal squad. The Gunners are beginning to see the rewards of their patience as they have looked utterly dominant in certain games this season, winning 12 of their 14 Premier League fixtures.
Attacking midfielder Martin Odegaard is at the centre of most of the brilliant moves the Gunners have put together this season, and he believes that the relationships in the squad and the signings made in the summer window have given Arsenal an extra edge mentally.
On 'Around the Block' on BT Sport's YouTube channel, Odegaard said: "I think the team spirit in the group has been really good. Everyone is really hungry and is pushing each other. We get along well as well, which helps.
"I think the signings we made, they've given us another step in terms of our mentality and quality. I think everyone just understands the principles and the way we want to play even more."
The Arsenal captain also gave an insight into what it's like playing under Arteta after the Amazon Prime: All or Nothing documentary offered football fans a glimpse into the mind of the Spaniard.
Odegaard added: "He (Arteta) is so focused and intense. He knows what he wants, but I think everyone just understands that he's so good and we can just listen to him and do what he says, then we will perform good.
"He'll tell you something that is going to happen in the game, and then it always happens. He has a lot of creative ways to do the team talk. Sometimes he will do a normal one, but then sometimes, he'll use the lightbulb and other things. I think he's really good at finding the extra motivation."
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