Arteta’s Ode to magic Mart

MIKEL ARTETA reckons Martin Odegaard’s bare stats just don’t paint the true picture of how phenomenal he is.

Arsenal star Odegaard (above) hasn’t scored since December 11, and he was last credited with a Premier League assist on Boxing Day.

But Gunners boss Arteta (below) said: “The things that you cannot capture in statistics are, for example, the interaction and the chemistry that he has and produces with all the players on the pitch when he is there.

“How the team functions when he is there and when he is not there, that is really difficult to measure.

“But it’s something Martin is exceptional at. He makes the people around him better.

“Martin for us is a really important player — he is showing that every single week.

“He’s phenomenal to work with, he’s developing areas of his game that we discussed, that he agreed, and that we believed could help him impact matches in a more powerful way.

“His whole mindset, the way he prepares himself, the way he treats people, the way he plays the game, is just exactly what we want from an Arsenal player.”

It’s seven years since Odegaard, now 23, was first thrust into the spotlight when Real Madrid snapped him up – and identified as a future Gunners captain.

Arteta added: “He had a label at 16, because he went to Real.

“You put a label on a player and it’s difficult to now modify that label.

“He is moving in the right way. He is the national team captain for Norway and he is one of the senior players here, for sure, even at his age – it comes very naturally to him.

“He can improve. He needs to create more goals, score more goals, make more runs in behind, he needs to be closer to the strikers to give them support – but he can do all that.”

Arteta had a playful retort for his old pal Pep Guardiola, who claimed last week that he’d swap half his trophies for a better golf swing.

The Manchester City manager’s former No.2 added: “I can give him my very little technique on golf, and he can give me half his trophies. We can do that, I’d be happy.

“I’ve played with him one or two times. I’m not very good – so it is a good deal for me.”