Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta was full of praise for his club captain Martin Odegaard, but couldn’t help but laugh when asked if he’d rather have him than his fellow Norwegian Erling Haaland.
Haaland has been on fire for Manchester City this season, scoring 22 goals in 15 games so far, and seems destined to be up there with Kylian Mbappe as one of the game’s biggest superstars of his generation.
Still, Odegaard somewhat surprisingly got a prestigious Norwegian football award for 2022 ahead of Haaland, which led to Arteta being asked to compare the two in his press conference, as per the video clip below…
"Is he a better player than Erling Haaland?" ?
Mikel Arteta gives a chuckle when asked if Odegaard tops Haaland, after the Arsenal star won Norway's best player award pic.twitter.com/a4pDzO0Bue
— The Sun Football ? (@TheSunFootball) October 23, 2022
Arteta insists he’s very glad to have Odegaard, but even he seemed to find it amusing that anyone could suggest the Gunners midfielder was the better player.
Odegaard has been a top performer for Arsenal and they will of course be happy to have him, but few would argue with the fact that Haaland is on another level.