Martin Odegaard says he’d absolutely love to play with midfielder Arsenal sold for just £25m

Martin Odegaard has revealed the one former Arsenal player he would love to play alongside today.

Given Arsenal’s rich history of legendary players, many might have expected the Gunners captain to name an iconic figure like Thierry Henry or Dennis Bergkamp, superstars who lit up the Premier League and defined the golden era at the club.

But Odegaard’s choice is a more personal and perhaps even more telling of the kind of player he is.

Rather than going for flair or goalscoring records, the Norwegian singled out a midfielder whose intelligence, vision, and leadership once made him the heartbeat of Arsène Wenger’s side.

Odegaard named Cesc Fabregas, a player he grew up watching as the Spaniard dictated midfields with effortless class.

Martin Odegaard says he would have loved to play alongside Cesc Fabregas

When asked to pick a former Arsenal player he would want to play alongside, Odegaard told ESPN: “The natural one to say would be Henry. But I loved Fabregas and I also loved Cazorla. I’m going to go with Fabregas.”

Pressed further on why he chose Fàbregas over the others, the Arsenal captain explained: “We play the same position, we both like to get on the ball and try to make things happen.

I always watched him when I was young. The way he dominated the game with the ball, his engine, and how he controlled the pace of the game was next level. So would be cool (to play alongside him).”

The choice is not surprising given that Odegaard has called Fabregas his idol.

And the admiration seems to be mutual, with Fabregas also praising Odegaard on several occasions in the past.

Why Cesc Fabregas left Arsenal to join Barcelona

Fabregas joined Arsenal’s academy from Barcelona’s La Masia when he was 16-years-old in 2003 and very quickly established himself as one of the most promising young midfielders in the Europe.

He broke through into the first-team under Arsene Wenger’s guidance and went on to become a fan-favourite at Arsenal.

He became a key part of Arsene Wenger’s side and was later named the club’s captain in 2008. He made 303 appearances for the club, scoring 57 and assisting 95.

His time at the club came to an emotional end in 2011, as Fabregas left Arsenal to join Barcelona in a deal worth £25m, his boyhood club.

Many Arsenal fans understood his decision at the time, however, it was only years later when he disclosed the actual reason for leaving, explaining that ‘he used to suffer‘ at Arsenal.

In an interview with Arseblog, he revealed: “I was the captain, I always felt so much pressure on myself. I had to lead this team to win something. I gave everything. Sometimes, I used to go home after we lost and I used to cry.

“I used to suffer, I used to spend sleepless nights suffering. And then you lose a game, you’re in the bus like this, destroyed, and then you hear some players laughing, thinking about where they will be going out later.

“This was going on for a few years. We were playing beautiful football and I enjoyed that side of things but I was putting pressure on myself to lead, to do everything and at one point I felt kind of lonely.

“Especially in the last two or three years, I felt Robin (van Persie) and Samir (Nasri) were the only players – it’s not an arrogant thing to say, it’s how I felt at that time – were the players who were at my level mentally and technically.

“Seeing some behaviours from certain players or something like this made me feel I wanted to check something else. If it was not because of that, I would not have left Arsenal at that time.”

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