Before the weekend’s disappointing draw away to Fulham, Arsenal were riding high courtesy of a 2-0 home win against fierce rivals Manchester United.
However, it wasn’t just the fixture that made Wednesday night’s clash a special one; it was also the fact that it was the 500th competitive men’s game at the Emirates Stadium.
It’s a stadium that has seen some special players in the 18 years since it was completed, but the last couple of years have been the first time it’s hosted a side that are bonafide title challengers and good enough to go all the way in Europe.
Therefore, while plenty of brilliant signings have been made since 2006, it’s hard to look past this current crop of players as the best of the Emirates era, particularly Martin Odegaard.
That said, he may not hold the crown for being one of Arsenal’s best deals of recent years for too much longer. More on that player in just a moment…
Odegaard's Arsenal career
Arsenal initially signed Odegaard on a six-month loan deal from Real Madrid in January 2021, and while he certainly wasn’t poor in that spell, his tally of two goals and two assists in 20 appearances wasn’t exactly earth-shattering.
However, Arteta and Edu Gaspar had a vision of the team with the Norwegian at the centre and opted to pay Los Blancos £30m for his services that summer, and what a game-changing decision that has since turned out to be.
The Drammen-born magician has become absolutely essential to how the Gunners play and his leadership abilities saw him named club captain in 2022 at just 23 years old.
Appearances
163
Goals
36
Assists
28
Goal Involvements per Match
0.39
So far, the 25-year-old superstar has scored 36 goals and provided 28 assists in 163 appearances for the club, equating to an average of a goal involvement every 2.54 games, and on top of that, he has the increasingly rare ability to get fans on their feet with a piece of immaculate close control or an aesthetically dazzling pass.
Overall, while he is yet to lead the club to a title or trophy, there can be no denying that Odegaard has been an utterly sublime signing for Arsenal and easily one of the best since the Emirates was completed.
However, he’s not the only one that fits that description in the current squad.
The newest member of Arsenal's best Emirates-era signings
So, while there are more than a handful of players in the current squad who could be named here, the player we are talking about is Dutch defender Jurrien Timber, who joined the club for £38m last summer.
Now, we know that it probably is too easy to make such a sweeping statement about a player who is essentially in his first season for the club, but he’s looked that impressive, and what’s football without a little bit of hyperbole?
With that said, what makes the former Ajax defender such a special player, so special in fact that respected analyst Ben Mattinon proclaimed him “one of the best signings of the Emirates era” late last month?
Well, it’s twofold, and the first reason is simply that he’s a modern full-back who is more than capable of defending.
The Amsterdam-born titan might not be on the level as William Saliba or Gabriel Magahales in this respect, but when he’s starting on the right-hand side, it’s rare to see him skinned by an opposing player or come out on the losing side of a physical battle, despite being just 5 foot 10.
However, the most significant reason why people have been so impressed with the 23-year-old is the difference he makes going forward.
While Ben White was great at overlapping with Bukayo Saka on the right, the Dutchman seems to be comfortable doing that and underlapping, and as his former manager Michael Reiziger says, he’s “at ease and one with the ball.”
We also saw him score his first goal for the club against United, chipping in with a header in the absence of Gabriel.
Ultimately, while he’s not the flashiest of players, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to ignore his consistently brilliant performances when he starts on the right, and perhaps the biggest compliment you can pay him is that White will have an almighty battle on his hands to displace him when fit.
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