Gary Neville believes that Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola would love to manage Arsenal playmaker Martin Odegaard.
The midfielder was in action yesterday for Arsenal in their 1-0 win over Everton.
The Gunners narrowly beat the Toffees to keeping within two points of City at the top of the table. City had beaten West Ham United 3-1 the day before, with Jeremy Doku scoring his first goal for the club and really standing out.
It was Leandro Trossard who grabbed the game’s only goal, after coming on as a substitute.
It was another great showing from Odegaard and after the game, Neville – who commentated on the game for Sky Sports – made a very interesting claim about the Norwegian…
Gary Neville says Pep Guardiola would take Martin Odegaard in a heartbeat
Neville spoke on The Gary Neville Podcast straight after Arsenal’s win over Everton.
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He was left very impressed by Odegaard, whom he believes is starting to enter the same bracket as Kevin De Bruyne and City legend David Silva.
He said: “Odegaard, I’m not saying he’s as good as David Silva or Kevin De Bruyne yet, he’s got a bit to go in his career. But it’s getting to a point now whereby when I watch him play, it is so smooth and so silky. I knew he was always a talented player. But we’re now talking about something very different than just talented – this is real class.
“Pep Guardiola, I think, if you said take one player out of this Arsenal team I think he’d take him in an absolute heartbeat. He would absolutely break into that Man City team because he’s a beautiful player to watch. Every time I watch him he gets better and better.”
Odegaard is class act and Pep Guardiola would surely love him at Man City
It is hard to disagree with this assessment from Neville.
£34 million signing Odegaard has been on a brilliant trajectory at Arsenal, and he is now one of the best playmakers in the world.
He plays the game in a way that would make him not look out of place at City.
He is an amazing technician, and Guardiola would probably love to manage him if the opportunity was ever presented to him.