The mood around Arsenal might not be ideal at the moment, but in the grand scheme of things, the club are in a far better position than they were when Mikel Arteta took charge.
The Spaniard took the reins in December 2019, when the team were languishing in midtable, and while it took a few years of finishing outside the top four, he’s now turned them into contenders in the Premier League and Champions League.
A significant reason for the team’s uptick in fortunes has undoubtedly been his leadership and tactical approach, but his signings have been just as important.
Not only has he been able to spend big on established stars, but he’s been able to sign underappreciated players who have since become integral to the side, including one whose value has exploded in recent years.
Arteta’s best Arsenal signings
While the likes of Declan Rice and Kai Havertz are often the first players people think about when the topic of Arteta’s signings comes up, understandably so, there are a couple of other stars now of the team who were signed for significantly less.
For example, in the same summer that the club spent £105m on the Englishman, they also spent around £38m on then-Ajax star Jurrien Timber, and while he missed practically all of last season with an ACL injury, he’s been integral to the team this year.
In all, the Dutch international has made 33 first-team appearances this term, and what’s so impressive is that ten of those have come at right-back, ten at left-back and three at centre-back, highlighting how versatile he is.
The same summer the Utrecht-born defender made his way to N5, the club made the surprise decision to add another goalkeeper to the squad in David Raya, who joined on a season-long loan with a £27m option to buy, which was activated last summer.
There were plenty of detractors at the time who could not understand why the manager wanted another shot-stopper when he already had Aaron Ramsdale in the side, but over the last campaign and a half, the Spaniard has shown the doubters exactly why the manager wanted him.
He’s incredibly calm on the ball, sits in the top 4% of keepers across Europe’s top five leagues, the Champions League and Europa League, for percentage of crosses stopped and won the Premier League’s Golden Glove award last season.
Both Timber and Raya have become key parts of Arteta’s title-challenging squad, but there’s another player who was signed a few years ago who is arguably even more important and has a lofty valuation to suggest as much.
The Arsenal star whose valuation has exploded
There are a few of Arteta’s signings who could fit the bill here, from Gabriel Magalhaes to, once again, Timber and Raya, but in this instance, the star in question plays further up the pitch and has a lot more responsibility on his shoulders.
The player in question is, Martin Odegaard, who joined the club on a permanent deal worth up to £34m with add-ons in August 2021, following a reasonably successful short-term loan the season prior.
Since then, the “sensational” Norwegian maestro, as dubbed by The Athletic’s Aaron Catterson-Reid, has become an incredibly important member of the team, as demonstrated by Arteta handing him the captaincy at just 23 years old and his lofty valuation of up to €140m from Football Transfers.
That converts to around £117m, which is a staggering increase of around 244% from the price the Gunners paid for him just three and a half years ago.
Now, it has to be said that so far this season, the former Real Madrid prospect has not played anywhere near his best, and while his ankle injury certainly hasn’t helped in that regard, a return of three goals and six assists in 25 games just isn’t good enough.
|
Odegaard’s recent seasons |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Season |
22/23 |
23/24 |
24/25 |
|
Appearances |
45 |
48 |
25 |
|
Minutes |
3404′ |
4053′ |
1943′ |
|
Goals |
15 |
11 |
3 |
|
Assists |
7 |
11 |
6 |
|
Goal Involvements per Match |
0.48 |
0.45 |
0.36 |
|
Minutes per Goal Involvement |
154.72′ |
184.22′ |
215.88′ |
That said, fans shouldn’t turn their backs on the Drammen-born magician just yet, as last season, he ended up with a haul of 22 goal involvements in 48 games while winning the club’s Player of the Year Award for the second campaign running.
Moreover, the year before that, he scored 15 goals and provided seven assists in 45 games.
Ultimately, while Odegaard is having a campaign to forget this year, he has been one of Arsenal’s best players for a few years now, and for that, it’s hard to argue against the increase in his valuation.
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