Arteta responds to calls for Rice to be made captain

Mikel Arteta has dismissed calls for Martin Ødegaard to be replaced as Arsenal captain, insisting there is “no question” the midfielder is the right figure to lead the team into another title race.

Photo via Arsenal.com

The debate was reignited this week after former captain Tony Adams urged Arteta to hand the armband to Declan Rice, arguing the England international would better embody the mentality required to turn Arsenal from contenders into champions.

Arteta, however, revealed that his decision was backed not just by his staff but overwhelmingly by the players themselves.

“My opinion is clear, and it’s not just my opinion. It’s all the staff and especially the players,” he said.

“I asked them to vote for the captain and I got the results yesterday. By a mile, by a big, big (margin), by 100 miles, everybody chose the same person, Martin Odegaard, which is the most clear sign that you can have. It’s how they feel about who has to be their captain, to defend, to improve, and win the matches that we want to win, so I think there is no question about that.”

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Ødegaard has worn the armband since 2022 but, after Arsenal’s sequence of near-misses in the league and three successive second-place finishes, questions have often been raised over the side’s ability to withstand pressure in when it really matters.

Adams was blunt in his assessment: “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.”

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Arteta, himself a former Arsenal captain, pushed back against those claims and stressed that leadership was not something decided externally. “What matters the most is how these guys feel about who needs to lead them, how they feel comfortable, who is going to push them, who is going to give them support when it’s happening,” he said.

Arsenal begin their season at Manchester United on Sunday before hosting Leeds, with a testing run against Liverpool, Nottingham Forest, Manchester City and Newcastle to follow.

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Arteta accepts those games will reveal how far his team have come. “Yes, especially with the consistency that we showed in the last three years, and now the margins, we know how small they are,” he said. “We know that the competition has increased the level with recruitment, with another year together.”

The Arsenal manager confirmed that Viktor Gyokeres and Martin Zubimendi will both be ready to feature at Old Trafford from the start, where Ødegaard will once again lead out the side his teammates voted to follow.