It’s always important to win the fans over at a new club as quickly as possible, so declaring your admiration for one of their formers players is always a good move.
Admittedly Cesc Fabregas gets a mixed reaction from the Arsenal supporters as some won’t forgive him for moving to Chelsea, but nobody is going to deny that he was a genuinely top quality player.
Arsenal’s website has published a couple of interviews with their new signing Martin Odegaard this afternoon, and he admitted that Cesc was one of his idols when he was growing up:
“In Norway, the Premier League is really big. Since I was a little kid there, we always watched all the games, me and my friends.
“I think it’s the biggest league, especially in Norway, so for me it’s always been a dream to play in the Premier League and I always liked the way Arsenal played and everything about the club. So it’s a dream come true in many ways.
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“There were a lot [of Arsenal players I admired]. But I think Fabregas, for me, was one of my idols when I grew up. So especially him.
“The way he controls the game, the way he dictated the game, his ability to give assists and also score goals. Everything about his game. I tried to learn as much as possible when I grew up watching him. He was the top player.”
Fabregas doesn’t get so much attention just now as he’s playing for Monaco in Ligue 1, but it’s weird to think that there’s still a possibility that Odegaard could share a pitch with one of his childhood idols if they were to be drawn together in Europe at some point soon.
The Real Madrid loanee has clearly learned some things from watching Cesc as you can see his ability to get on the ball and create, so hopefully it’s not too long before he’s up and running as a regular in the side.