Arsenal struck gold on sensational "wizard" worth more than Nelson & Nketiah combined - opinion

If he were to be sold, it would likely be for his £20m valuation, meaning that if the Gunners were able to get exactly what they wanted for the two attackers, they would earn a cool £55m, and while that's a lot of money, it pales in comparison to the valuation of one of Arteta's best signings to date.

Martin Odegaard's valuation in 2024

The signing in question is Martin Odegaard, who completed his £34m move to the club in the summer of 2021 after impressing on loan six months prior.

Since then, he has only gone from strength to strength and now, according to the CIES Football Observatory, is worth up to a staggering €117m, which converts to about £100m, or at least £45m more than the combined valuations of Nketiah and Nelson.

It's an entirely justified valuation as well because, alongside his incredible skill and ability, he's become a real leader on the pitch, earning the captain's armband just a year after signing.

Odegaard's Arsenal career

Appearances

154

Goals

35

Assists

25

Goal Involvements per Match

0.38

All Stats via Transfermarkt

Moreover, in his 154 appearances for the North Londoners, he's scored 35 goals and provided 25 assists, meaning he has averaged a goal involvement once every 2.56 games since making the move four years ago.

It's not just his output that is impressive either, as according to FBref, which compares players in similar positions across Europe's top five leagues, the Champions League and the Europa League, the Norwegian "wizard", as dubbed by footballer Babayele Sodade, sits in the top 1% of midfielders for shot-creating actions and touches in the opposition penalty area, the top 2% for progressive passes, the top 3% for non-penalty expected goals plus expected assists and the top 4% for actual assists and total shots, all per 90.

Ultimately, Arteta has made several brilliant signings during his time at Arsenal, but Odegaard might be his very best, and the fact that he is worth so much more than two other players combined helps prove that fact.