Martin Odegaard has brushed off criticism from Tony Adams after the Arsenal great suggested the midfielder should be replaced as captain.
Odegaard has served as Arsenal skipper since 2022. However, Adams, who captained Arsenal to four league titles in his career, said recently that the Norway international should be stripped of the captaincy, pointing to Declan Rice as the best man to lead the team on the pitch.
Speaking to an audience at an Irish Independent Sport event, Adams said: “Every now and again as a manager, you have to put someone who reflects you, who reflects the football club that you think can actually take you to the next level.
“You’ve got someone in there who’s going to play every game all season, that’s going to encourage people to come in and lay the foundations of a title-winning team. Declan Rice can do that, Odegaard can’t. Come on [Mikel] Arteta, make him captain.”
Manager Arteta later said that Odegaard was voted captain by his team-mates, winning that ballot emphatically.
And, speaking in a press conference ahead of Norway’s clash with Moldova on Tuesday, Odegaard dismissed the criticism.
“I don’t care that much, to be honest,” said Odegaard. “Everyone can have their opinion and say what they want, and I’m all right with that. I can’t care about what everyone says.
“There’s a lot of negative and positive things to say, but I can’t let it affect me. That’s what I’ve thought throughout my career.
“We voted for it. Ultimately, it was his [Arteta’s] choice anyway. But it was a nice confirmation for me.”
Odegaard suffered a shoulder injury in Arsenal’s second game of the season, a 5-0 home win over Leeds United, and was limited to 20 minutes of their subsequent 1-0 defeat to Liverpool at Anfield.
But Odegaard played 45 minutes of Norway’s friendly with Finland on Thursday and says the injury is behind him, rejecting any notion of a conflict of interest between Norway and Arsenal.
“It hurt a lot, but now I got it under control and I feel ready,” Odegaard added. “It [a conflict of interest] was never an issue.
“I talk a lot with [Norway coach] Stale Solbakken. The club obviously wanted me for Liverpool, and my only job was to get ready.”
