"Finally he is getting his full potential out" - Manchester City's Erling Haaland names Arsenal player who has impressed him this season
Manchester City striker Erling Haaland has heaped praise on Arsenal midfielder Martin Odegaard ahead of their crunch Premier League clash later today (February 15).
The Citizens will travel to take on league leaders Arsenal at the Emirates Stadium. A win for City would take them above the Gunners on goal difference and thus put them in the driving seat in the title race.
Meanwhile, ahead of the game, Manchester City striker Haaland has lauded his countryman Odegaard, who has been in tremendous form for Mikel Arteta's side. The Arsenal skipper has also played a key role in them sitting atop of the log with 51 points.
The Norwegian is now widely considered one of the best midfield stars in the league this season. His playmaking ability has been crucial in creating clear scoring chances for Arsenal.
Odegaard has scored a total of eight goals and provided a further six assists in 20 games in the Premier League this season.
Haaland has gone on to state that the Norwegian midfielder is finally leaving up to his full potential at the Emirates Stadium.
“He is such a good footballer and he is finally getting his full potential out. He is showing the world how good he is. That is really fantastic to see.”
Odegaard joined Arsenal on a permanent deal from Real Madrid in 2021 for a transfer fee in the region of £30 million, after an initial six-month loan spell.
"They have an incredible history" - Manchester City manager heaps praise on Arsenal ahead of Premier League showdown
Pep Guardiola has lauded his rivals Arsenal ahead of their upcoming league clash against the Gunners later tonight (February 15).
Manchester City will be hoping to leapfrog the north London club in the table should they secure a win at the Emirates Stadium.
Guardiola, however, did show respect for Arsenal ahead of the game, as he claimed that his opponents do have an incredible history as a club. He said (via The Guardian):
"It’s impossible to win two leagues and every day to be perfect. Arsenal have an incredible history, bigger than us in terms of titles. But not recently."
He continued:
"They have something special that we don’t have because we won it recently. We have to find other tricks, other ways, to find fire as a team and individually say that we can still do it. If we didn’t have that, we wouldn’t be second. We’d be far, far away.”
Both sides have faced off once this season in the FA Cup, with Manchester City beating Arsenal 1-0 in the fourth round.