Emmanuel Petit has told Martin Odegaard how he can reach the pedigree of Dennis Bergkamp at Arsenal. The 24-year-old has been integral to the Gunners' success as they set their sights on a Premier League title.
Odegaard, who sees his contract at the Emirates Stadium expire in 2025, has featured 25 times for Mikel Arteta's side this season, directly contributing towards 14 goals from midfield. His impressive displays have guided the north Londoners five points clear of second-placed Manchester City with a game in hand.
The Norway international has been one of the league's top performers this term as Arsenal look to win their first Premier League titel since 2004. Ironically, it was Bergkamp who steered the Gunners to their previous title nearly 20-years ago when Arsene Wenger's side went the entire season unbeaten.
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Odegaard has been tipped to reach the same level as the Dutchman if he can defend Arsenal's place at the top of the table. Speaking to Betway, Petit said: "Martin Odegaard definitely has the qualities to reach Bergkamp’s level, but he needs to win silverware.
"He has maturity, he is the leader of the team and he’s a technical leader as well. He also has that composure. But we are talking about Dennis Bergkamp here.
"Bergkamp has so much silverware in his cabinet and was a regular at Arsenal, playing at a top level every season. Though this is only the beginning for Odegaard and his teammates. I hope Arsenal will win something at the end of the season because if they don't, it will be a huge disappointment."
Petit continued by claiming that Odegaard, hypothetically, could be good enough to feature in the Arsenal starting lineup which won the Premier League in 1997/98. He said: "In terms of possibly playing within my squad in 1997/98, I see potential in some individuals like Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard in midfield as well.
"I'm very impressed with the way that Granit Xhaka is back to his best level and very impressed with the left back Oleksandr Zinchenko. But we're talking about a team that won in 1998 when we were so far away from Manchester United after Christmas time.
"We were about 13 or 14 points behind them and we won the Premier League. So again, you cannot compare both generations at the moment. We can talk about it forever, but if they don't win things, they can’t be compared."
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