Arsenal’s “future captain” is now destined to take the #8 from Odegaard

After years of constructing it up, Arsenal now have certainly one of, if not the perfect, squad within the Premier League.

Some may say that Liverpool and Manchester Metropolis have stronger beginning lineups, however relating to real high quality depth, the Gunners stand head and shoulders above the remainder.

For instance, they’re presently prime of the desk and with out membership captain Martin Odegaard, who seemed glorious within the couple of appearances he made earlier than his MCL damage.

Furthermore, Mikel Arteta already has somebody within the squad at the moment who feels destined to at some point take the Norwegian’s armband and shirt quantity.

Arsenal’s best quantity eights

Being the large membership they’re, Arsenal have had some genuinely unimaginable gamers don their well-known pink and white over time, and there have been some distinctive gamers with the quantity eight on their again.

Each fan goes to have a unique prime three gamers to put on the quantity, however right here, the third spot goes to somebody who’s not fairly a legend, however most actually a cult hero: Aaron Ramsey.

The Welsh worldwide wore the shirt from the 16/17 to the 18/19 seasons, and whereas he did not win a league throughout his time in North London, he did win three FA Cups.

Furthermore, he scored the winner in opposition to Hull Metropolis and Chelsea, so with out him, the 2010s would have been far bleaker for the Gunners.

Up subsequent is a bona fide legend, and somebody who even managed the membership on an interim foundation in 2019: Freddie Ljungberg.

The Swedish celebrity wore the quantity between the 98/99 and 06/07 seasons, throughout which he made 328 appearances, scoring 72 objectives, offering 40 assists and successful two league titles, three FA Cups and two Participant of the Yr awards from the membership.

Lastly, relating to essentially the most iconic quantity eight within the Gunners’ storied historical past, it’s inconceivable to look previous Mr Arsenal himself: Ian Wright.

The legendary centre-forward wore the shirt for almost all of his time at Highbury, and had it on his again when he broke Cliff Bastin’s goalscoring report in 1997, which was then damaged once more by a sure Frenchman.

Now, whereas that’s the prime three as issues stand, there’s each probability Odegaard might change Ramsey if he leads Arsenal to a title this season, and years from now, certainly one of his teammates might take the eight off his arms.

Arsenal’s future eight

There are a couple of choices for gamers within the present Arsenal squad who might take the eight shirt from Odegaard sooner or later, from Ethan Nwaneri to Max Dowman.

Nevertheless, the previous feels extra prone to inherit the ten, and the latter could possibly be an ideal long-term Bukayo Saka substitute.

Subsequently, the Norwegian’s shirt feels much more prone to come to Myles Lewis-Skelly.

In spite of everything, whereas he is been enjoying exceptionally nicely at left-back over the past yr or so, everyone seems to be nicely conscious that his most performed place within the academy, and the one he is anticipated to maneuver into sooner or later, is central midfield.

Furthermore, as if anybody wanted extra convincing of his capability to vary video games from the center of the park, he did precisely that in opposition to Atletico Madrid.

Simply seven minutes after Gabriel Magalhães scored the opening objective, the 19-year-old monster picked up the ball in the midst of the park, drove previous half the Atleti staff, and supplied Gabriel Martinelli an ideal go to place the ball at the back of the online.

On prime of that, he has additionally confirmed himself to be far harder and extra keen to throw his weight round than individuals would have anticipated for somebody his age.

It is this fearlessness and unimaginable self-belief which have helped him turn into such a distinguished a part of this squad so early on in his profession, and why membership insider Hand of Arsenal has already dubbed him a “future captain.”

These traits have additionally seen England supervisor Thomas Tuchel take a eager liking to him, and as he is already gained six senior caps for the Three Lions, there’s each probability he is on the airplane to the World Cup subsequent yr.

Finally, it is nonetheless extremely early in his profession, however Lewis-Skelly is clearly going to turn into a midfielder sooner or later, and if he retains performing the best way he’s, it feels inevitable that he’ll turn into Arsenal’s subsequent quantity eight.