Martin Odegaard was the latest player to share some words with The Players’ Tribune, and I think I speak for everyone associated with Arsenal when I say I couldn’t love the man any more than I do now.

This season has been one for reconnecting the fans with the team representing our fantastic club.

We have a strong fan base, one that will follow through thick and thin but to connect with the players and to connect with the club is two different things.

We’ve seen time and time again through the years, players that succeed for Arsenal and become fan favourites, then soon enough become villains.

It’s hard to trust captains of Arsenal in the same way it’s hard to trust politicians.

That’s why this season is so special and resonates a relationship with Arsenal that we’ve been deprived of over the last decade or so.

Our current skipper Odegaard personifies security.

From his presence on the ball, to his ability to lift the team and fans and the way he conveys his love for the club, he’s everything you’d want from a captain.

Look at our last skipper, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. There were times when I thought the man could do no wrong, a formidable striker who seemed to love playing for Arsenal.

The thing when you love a club is you see everything through rose-tinted glasses, and when you take them off you see a man that disregarded his said passion for Arsenal in the blink of an eye.

I read Odegaard’s entry on his career on The Players’ Tribune and couldn’t help but think of how he’s undergone so many changes in his career and has become the player that he is despite so many twists and turns.

They’re changes on his journey that could easily psychologically derail a young developing player’s career, but he’s hit his prime whilst captaining our club and we’re essentially seeing him flourish securely.

From signing for Real Madrid at just 16-years-old to frequently relocating for loan moves, the Norwegian described Arsenal as his home.

“I needed to find a place where I could settle. I needed to find an actual home. I found it in North London.”

He writes: ‘Me and Arsenal. It just seemed like a good match in my head,” when referring to playing FIFA career mode as a young player hitting the professional football scene.

The way the 24-year-old – and it’s hard to believe he’s only 24 – captures his passion for Arsenal and his pure joy to captain the club is something quite special.

I could pull so many lines from Odegaard’s story, but I suggest you read the full piece to appreciate it.

From the way he believes in this team, to the way he appreciates the fans and understands the magnitude of what it really means to captain Arsenal, he’s a special player and one we are so blessed to have leading this current squad.

I’ll end my adoration for the Norweigan with my favourite quote from the magnificent piece, the ending, words that made me smile from ear-to-ear when I read it:

“Whenever I lead the team out at the Emirates, I have this moment to myself. I want to really feel that atmosphere, that electricity from the fans. I always listen as they play North London Forever over the speakers, and I start singing along under my breath.

I get goosebumps every time. 

I close my eyes, and I think about myself as a kid out on the artificial pitch in Drammen. If you’d have shown that kid a snapshot of this moment and told him this was in his future?

He would have died for this.

It’s been a hell of a long road, but I’m living my dream.

I’m home. And the best is yet to come."