Arsenal captain Odegaard: 'Real Madrid the biggest club in the world'

Stuart Telford

• 15 Oct 2023 09:36 BST
• 3 min read

Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard has described his former employers as the "biggest club in the world," but he has no regrets about leaving Madrid for North London.

Odegaard joined Arsenal in January 2021, initially on loan from Real, before the move was made permanent for €35 million that August.

He was previously Real's youngest ever transfer, joining them from Stromsgodset in 2015 just a month past his 16th birthday, but he never really for his chance at the Santiago Bernabeu, being farmed out on loans to Heerenveen, Vitesse and Real Sociedad before the Arsenal move.

READ: Martin Odegaard’s new Arsenal contract: Wage, length and release clause

He has since racked up 28 goals and 16 assists in 117 appearances with the Gunners, and was made captain at the start of last season after Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette had left the cub.

Odegaard 'happy with the decision' to leave

The transfer has worked out on a personal level, but Odegaard still holds Real in high regard.

"Real Madrid is the biggest club in the world and the pressure is noticeable, even if it wasn't as much as Ronaldo [Nazario], [David] Beckham and company were there," he told the Daily Mail's Ryan Walker.

READ: Arsenal unlikely to make Osimhen or any striker transfer in January - Ornstein

"I learned a lot, I matured a lot and I was able to train with some of the best players in the world. But in the end, leaving was the best decision for me, I wanted to play more and continue growing…

"I'm happy with the decision I made and how it went. If I hadn't gone through Madrid I wouldn't have reached the level I have today."

Odegaard is now valued at €59.3 million by FootballTransfers' in-house algorithm, making his €35m acquisition looked particularly shrewd financially. He had an ETV high of €64.5m when Arsenal looked on course for the Premier League title last season.