William Saliba has claimed Arsenal team-mate Martin Odegaard is one of the three best players in the world while the club captain continued his electric form in the Victory by 5-1 against Sporting CP.
The Gunners struggled after losing Odegaard to injury in September but are unbeaten in the three games he has started since his return, with the Norwegian even getting an assist in a third consecutive appearance in Tuesday’s win.
“It’s a bit different (when Odegaard is fit) as he is one of the best players in the world,” Saliba confessed. “We are very happy to have him back. We are better with him, I hope he doesn’t get injured again. We have to enjoy playing with him. You see we are better with him.
“He’s a great professional, so he’s worked hard in training camp. I’m not surprised he’s come back like this, but it’s not easy when you haven’t played for weeks to get back to that level.”
Saliba went even further and praised Odegaard as one of the best players on the planet right now.
“The first three!” he exclaimed. “I don’t want to put too much pressure on him. I think top three. I love this guy.”
The arsenal The centre-back named Kevin De Bruyne and Declan Rice as the only midfielders who could rival Odegaard for the title of best midfielder in the world.
Gunners boss Mikel Arteta has it too stressed the importance of Odegaard’s returnadmitting his team was struggling with its injury crisis earlier this season before the likes of Rice, Bukayo Saka, Mikel Merino and Riccardo Calafiori began to return.
