‘Only Barcelona could sign him’ - Odegaard hailed as Player of Year over Haaland

Carlo Garganese

• 17 Jan 2023 10:00 GMT
• 3 min read

Rio Ferdinand has named Martin Odegaard as his Premier League Player of the Year and says that only Barcelona could possibly lure him away from Arsenal.

Odegaard has been the star man this season for an Arsenal side who are enjoying a brilliant campaign and are currently eight points clear at the top of the Premier League.

The 24-year-old now has a fantastic eight goals and five assists in 18 Premier League games in 2022-23.

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This makes him the highest scoring midfielder in the EPL, with none of them being penalties. Only three players in England have more assists.

His latest star showing was on Sunday as he scored a daisycutter and ran the show in midfield in a 2-0 win over north London rivals Tottenham at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

All this has left Ferdinand believing that Odegaard deserves to be named Premier League Player of the Year, even above compatriot Erling Haaland who has scored 27 goals for Man City.

What did Ferdinand say about Odegaard?

“I'd go as far as to say right now, he's probably my player of the year,” Ferdinand said on his Vibe with Five podcast.

“If Haaland eases up with the goals and Arsenal win the league and Odegaard continues, he's my player of the year.”

Ferdinand added that he sees Odegaard staying at Arsenal for the long term and that the only club who could possibly entice him away is Barcelona.

“The only place he goes is somewhere like Barca. If they come in, it's a different conversation,” Ferdinand said.

Odegaard joined Arsenal from Real Madrid in the summer of 2021 for €35 million.