Cesc Fabregas claims Martin Odegaard is "responding very well" to wearing the Arsenal armband - but admits "it's not easy" for a player so young to be club captain.
Mikel Arteta anointed the 23-year-old skipper this summer, following the departures of experienced strikers Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette. The impact has been promising so far, with Odegaard guiding the Gunners to six wins from their opening seven Premier League games ahead of Saturday's North London derby against Tottenham.
The attacking midfielder also captains his national team, Norway, and has already played nearly 350 games for club and country despite his relative youth. Fabregas knows all about the burden of the armband having been named Arsenal captain in 2008 at the tender age of 21, succeeding William Gallas to become the second-youngest skipper in the club's history.
The Spanish icon, 35, has been pleased with how Odegaard has responded to his leadership role and even sees a bit of himself in the former Real Madrid man. "I hope he will be crucial in a good way, because I like his style," Fabregas said of Odegaard on BT Sport.
"I like his intelligence and how he moves to find these little pockets to make the difference. He's very tricky and a good eye for the ball. It's a lot of resposibility. He was 15 when he made his debut for Norway, he's the captain of Norway, now a very young captain for Arsenal. Not an easy task for him and he's responding very well.
"It reminds me a little bit of me when I took the armband at 21. It's not easy. It's a big, big club. Everyone wants results and today we expect a big performance from him and from the old team.
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"I think everyone is different. Every coach is different and demands different things. Arsene always gave me a lot of freedom to be myself. I think Mikel now is a little bit of 'it's his way'. He doesn't give much freedom to the players, it's about the way he wants the approach to be from himself, not the players."
Odegaard missed Arsenal's 3-0 victory over Brentford before the international break with a knock sustained in training but returned to the line-up for the clash with Spurs at the Emirates on Saturday afternoon. He has already scored three times this season, so he is well on his way to matching his tally of seven goals from last term.
However, it was midfield colleague Thomas Partey who struck first in the derby, curling in a delightful effort from range after receiving the ball from Benjamin White. The Gunners' joy was short-lived, however, as Harry Kane equalised from the penalty spot after Richarlison was brought down by Gabriel.
