Arsenal: 4 candidates for player of the season

4. Martin Odegaard

It helps any chance of winning the player of the season award if you’ve been consistent throughout. And, if we’re talking about Martin Odegaard over this international break, that has not been the case.

Not long ago he was being left on the bench in place of a two-man strike force. Lacazette was playing ahead of him. Lacazette was playing ahead of him. Remember that?

At the time there were no great complaints as Odegaard was guilty of drifting out of matches. He hadn’t quite managed to adjust to his surroundings and his teammates, despite having previously been on loan.

But now look at him. He’s operating at a world class level. Even when factoring in the slower start he had to the season he sits atop all the creative metrics for Arsenal this season, from xA, to npxG+xA, to key passes, to progressive passes, to SCA p/90…you name it.

So while his form only began to pick up around November time, he’s still been in the team and clocking up stupendous numbers to match his mesmeric talent. Fans are off their seats soaking up his vision, work rate and silkiness on the ball. Adding some goals to his game has been most welcome too and and discovering that touch across the season means there is more to come from him.

If the awards were now then he would probably miss out on account of his early season form, but just like so many others (Emile Smith Rowe!) there could be any number of potential winners that nobody would disagree heavily with.