Martin Odegaard ‘doesn’t care’ about Tony Adams’ Arsenal captaincy criticism

Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard has said he “doesn’t care” about criticism from former skipper Tony Adams over him having the armband this season.

The 26-year-old has been Arsenal’s captain since the summer of 2022, but in August, Adams urged Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta to strip the Norway international of the Arsenal captaincy and hand the role to Declan Rice.

Asked about the recent criticism in a pre-match press conference for Norway, Odegaard said: “I don’t care that much, to be honest. Everyone can have their opinion and say what they want, and I’m all right with that. I can’t care about what everyone says.

“There’s a lot of negative and positive things to say, but I can’t let it affect me. That’s what I’ve thought throughout my career.”

Odegaard had only been at Arsenal for one full season when he was given the armband, but has now made 201 appearances for the club. He has also captained the Norway national team since March 2021.

Adams, who captained Arsenal to league title wins in three separate decades, made his preference known in front of an audience at an Irish Independent Sport event in Dublin last month, saying: “Every now and again as a manager, you have to put someone who reflects you, who reflects the football club that you think can actually take you to the next level.

“You’ve got someone in there who’s going to play every game all season, that’s going to encourage people to come in and lay the foundations of a title-winning team. Declan Rice can do that, Odegaard can’t. Come on Arteta, make him captain.”

Arteta later revealed that the Arsenal squad had conducted a vote on who would be this season’s captain, and that Odegaard won ‘by a mile’.

“That’s right, we voted for it,” Odegaard added. “Ultimately, it was his (Arteta’s) choice anyway. But it was a nice confirmation for me.”

Odegaard earned Arteta’s trust as early as his initial loan spell from Real Madrid in the 2020-21 season. Despite not being a permanent member of the squad, he was key to relaying what the manager wanted to see on the pitch — a quality that continued once he signed permanently in the summer of 2021.

Questions over the midfielder being a suitable captain arose when his form dipped in the 2024-25 season. Ensuring his performances improved was therefore a more pressing issue for Odegaard than discussions about whether he had the armband or not.

He was forced to come off with a shoulder injury in Arsenal’s second game of the season, a 5-0 win over Leeds United, but managed to play 20 minutes of their 1-0 loss to Liverpool a week later.

In the international break, he started Norway’s 1-0 friendly win against Finland last week and came off at half time when a host of changes were made.

“It hurt a lot, but now I got it under control and I feel ready,” Odegaard said about his shoulder. “It was never an issue (conflict of interest with Norway and Arsenal).

“I talk a lot with Stale Solbakken (Norway’s manager). The club obviously wanted me for Liverpool, and my only job was to get ready.”

Norway’s next game is a World Cup Qualifier against Moldova on Tuesday, September 9. Arsenal then host Nottingham Forest on Saturday, September 13.

(Photo: Alex Burstow/Arsenal FC via Getty Images)

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