Mikel Arteta insisted that Martin Odegaard retains the support of his Arsenal teammates after calls for the midfielder to be stripped of the captaincy.
Odegaard has captained the Gunners for the past three seasons, leading his side to three successive runners-up finishes in the Premier League, but endured a quieter season last time out, with just 11 goal contributions in the league last season.
That reduced output recently led Tony Adams to call for Declan Rice to instead be given the armband, with the former Arsenal captain claiming the Gunners won’t win the league with Odegaard as skipper.
‘The call is to make Declan Rice the captain. I think Declan is my kind of captain, and it might free Odegaard up to play with a bit more freedom,’ 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.
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‘He (Arteta) has got an opportunity this year to actually turn into a winner,’ he added. ‘To win league titles, you have to be a [Jurgen] Klopp, you have to be a [Sir Alex] Ferguson.
‘You have to lead by example, you have to be a winner, you have to go about your business. And that reflects in your captain.
‘And I’m seeing Declan Rice as a captain but I’m saying to Arteta: Come on, step up now. It’s your time to be a winning manager and a fantastic manager, because you’re not going to win the league with Odegaard as captain.’
But asked about Adam’s remarks ahead of Arsenal’s league opener against Manchester United, Arteta insisted that neither he nor his players have wavered in their belief that Odegaard is the right man for the job.
‘My opinion is clear, and it is the same as all the staff and the players,’ the Spaniard said.
‘I asked them to vote [for] the captain yesterday and by a mile, by a mile, they all choose the same person, Martin Odegaard. Which is the most clear sign you can have of how the squad feel we can improve.’
Former Arsenal keeper David Seaman was another to throw their support behind Odegaard, and said a chance of captaincy risked upsetting the dressing room dynamics on the eve of Arsenal’s tough opening league run.
‘Yeah Declan would make a good captain but Odegaard is the captain so for me there is no need to change,’ Seaman told talkSPORT.
‘For me, if you start changing things like that you start upsetting the squad. I wouldn’t be happy for starters.
‘Declan is always going to be a captain on the pitch already. When I was playing, we had about eight captains on the pitch.
‘For me it doesn’t make much of a difference and I know what Odegaard is like off the pitch – he’s brilliant being the club captain – so, for me, let’s leave it alone and focus on the football rather than the captaincy.’
Elsewhere, there was good news on the injury front for Arsenal, with Arteta confirming that both Martin Zubimendi and Leandro Trossard should fit to travel to Old Trafford on Sunday.
‘Martin [Zubimendi] has had a great integration in to the team and we are really happy with him. He will be fit for Sunday,’ Arteta said.
On Trossard, who missed Arsenal’s last two pre-season games, he added: ‘Yeah I think he’s much better, I think he will be able to train again tomorrow and if that’s the case, he will be fit.’
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