Arsenal have had some incredible creative midfield players over the years.
From Cesc Fabregas to Samir Nasri all the way back to Denis Bergkamp, Arsenal’s attack-minded midfield players have been key players in the team for generations.
Martin Odegaard has been criticised recently, but make no mistake about it, Odegaard is a world-class player when he’s a his best.
Of course, Martin Odegaard arrived at Arsenal as the long-term replacement for Mesut Ozil after Ozil fell out with Mikel Arteta back in 2020.
Speaking on TalkSPORT, Darren Bent has been discussing Ozil and Odegaard, and he was asked to pick which player he’d rather have out of the two.
Bent made cases for both players, but, ultimately, he picked Odegaard.
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Darren Bent picks Martin Odegaard over Mesut Ozil
Bent was asked to pick between Odegaard and Ozil.
The pundit stated that Ozil has more natural ability than the current Arsenal captain, but due to Odegaard’s consistency, he’d rather have the Norwegian.
“For your money, out of the two, who is better (Odegaard or Ozil)?” Bent was asked.
“See I would take Odegaard. If you’re asking me who has the most natural ability, then it’s Ozil, he won four FA Cups, wow. But his problem was consistency,” Bent said.
“He had a period where he was linking with Alexis Sanchez and he was on a different planet, but it wasn’t often enough. Whereas, Martin Odegaard, that’s why he’s captain, a leader, he’s been really consistent Martin Odegaard, since coming to Arsenal.
“But if you’re asking who you’d pay money to watch to entertain you, then Ozil is that guy.”
Mesut Ozil compared to Martin Odegaard at Arsenal
Interestingly, this isn’t the first time we’ve heard the Ozil vs Odegaard debate.
Jason Cundy says Ozil is better than Odegaard, and when you look at the stats, it’s hard to disagree.
Indeed, not only did Ozil win more than the £30m man has at Arsenal, he also created at a better rate.
However, Odegaard does score more than Ozil.
| Mesut Ozil at Arsenal | Martin Odegaard at Arsenal | |
|---|---|---|
| Games | 182 | |
| 44 | Goals | 40 |
| 75 | Assists | 42 |
| 0.17 | Goals per game | 0.22 |
| 0.3 | Assists per game | 0.23 |
| 4 | Trophies | 0 |
Ozil was a better creator than Odegaard, but there’s no shame in that.
Indeed, Ozil has to be considered one of the greatest playmakers of all-time. In fact, Sami Khedira once said Ozil was a better player than Cristiano Ronaldo.
Ozil and Odegaard are similar in a lot of ways, they’re left-footed attacking midfielders who have played for both Arsenal and Real Madrid, and no matter which player you prefer, it has to be said that they’re both joys to watch.
