Arsenal’s Martin Odegaard lifted the Premier League trophy this season, becoming the first Gunners player to do so in 22 years.
The Norwegian captain has been Mikel Arteta’s voice on the pitch, serving as a calming and respected presence within the squad for several years.
A year ago, Arteta asked the entire squad to vote on who their captain should be, and the resounding answer was Odegaard.
However, a significant problem has been developing around the skipper that Arsenal must now address sooner rather than later.
Odegaard arrived from Real Madrid in August 2021 for just £30m, a fee that looks like an extraordinary bargain given the transfer fees seen in the current market.
The 27-year-old was near the peak of his powers in 2022/23, finishing as joint-top scorer alongside Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli with 15 Premier League goals, the most of any midfielder that season.
Since then, his goal output has dropped dramatically, with Odegaard managing just seven goals across the last two seasons and only one strike in 2025/26.
The ankle injury he suffered has clearly impacted his ability to strike through the ball, and a lack of confidence in front of goal has been evident in his performances.
Creativity remains one of his strengths, with only Bruno Fernandes, Rayan Cherki, and Jeremy Doku bettering his 2.63 key passes per 90 minutes in the league last season.
The question now facing Arsenal is whether a change is needed, particularly given that scoring with regularity has been one of the club’s persistent problems in recent seasons.
Arsenal insider Teamnewsandtix reported this week: “I’ve been aware of Arsenal’s interest in Vinicius Junior since January. Back in January, Arsenal were looking at the top one percent of the top one percent, that mould of player. The three I heard were Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Jamal Musiala or Vinicius Junior.”
Arsenal had also tracked Morgan Rogers, who joined Chelsea in a remarkable £117m transfer, with the attacker having scored 14 goals from the number 10 role at Aston Villa last term.
Bayern Munich’s Jamal Musiala now appears to be very much on Arsenal’s radar as a potential long-term replacement for Odegaard in the creative midfield role.
After returning from a broken leg in January, Musiala scored five goals and registered six assists for Bayern last season, but in full flow across 2024/25 he scored 21 goals in 44 matches.
Bayern CEO Jan-Christian Dreesen has previously described Musiala as “one of the top players in the world”, underlining just how highly regarded the German is within football’s elite circles.
The statistical comparison between Musiala and Odegaard in 2024/25 is stark, with the German recording 0.60 non-penalty goals per 90 minutes compared to Odegaard’s 0.08.
Musiala also produced more big chances from open play and recorded a higher rate of expected assists per 90 minutes than the Arsenal captain during that same period.
His dribbling numbers are particularly eye-catching, completing 3.59 successful dribbles per 90 minutes against Odegaard’s 0.97, highlighting the pace and carry threat he would bring to Arsenal’s attack.
A transfer does look difficult to complete, with Bayern having valued Musiala as high as £150m just two years ago, and the club unlikely to sanction a deal cheaply even with his stock having slightly dipped since then.