Former Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas has dubbed Bukayo Saka and Martin Odegaard "the present and future" of Arsenal after the pair starred in the Gunners' Premier League win at Watford.
Odegaard put Arsenal ahead at Vicarage Road, with Saka and Gabriel Martinelli both on target as the Gunners won 3-2 to move ahead of Manchester United into fourth place before their rivals' derby meeting with Manchester City.
Saka's goal was his ninth of the season at club level, with Odegaard moving onto five since completing a permanent move to north London from Real Madrid.
Not only is England international Saka enjoying his best ever goalscoring season, his goal at Vicarage Road also brought him close to matching a record set by Fabregas during the Spanish international's time at the club.
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Saka played a big part in Odegaard's opener, linking up with his teammate down the right before feeding the Norwegian to beat Ben Foster with a low finish.
And the 20-year-old got himself on the scoresheet later in the first half, finding the top corner after being played in by Alexandre Lacazette.
That brought up 20 goals in an Arsenal shirt for Saka, who only turned 20 in September, and 15 years have passed since another Gunners player reached the target at a younger age.
Saka's 20th goal hit the back of the net with the England man aged 20 years and 182 days, but beating him to the record by a mere 41 days was Fabregas himself, according to Sky Sports.
The goal from Saka had helped restore Arsenal's lead after Cucho Hernandez briefly drew Watford level, and Gabriel Martinelli extended the visitors' advantage before Moussa Sissoko made things interesting late on.
Arsenal could have had more goals, with Saka and Odegaard both looking threatening throughout, and Fabregas was one of many admirers of the duo.
"Saka and Ødegaard are the present and future of Arsenal. Two big, big talents," said the Monaco midfielder, who ended up with 57 Arsenal goals himself after joining the club as a teenager.
Before the game, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta was full of praise for Odegaard even as he called on the 23-year-old to score more goals.
"Martin for us is a really important player — he is showing that every single week," he said.
“He’s phenomenal to work with, he’s developing areas of his game that we discussed, that he agreed, and that we believed could help him impact matches in a much more powerful way.
“His whole mindset, the way he prepares himself, the way he treats people, the way he plays the game, is just exactly what we want from an Arsenal player.”
