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Martin Ødegaard’s decision to leave Real Madrid and move to Arsenal has been proven as the right one, with the Gunners continuing to develop and him ‘essential’.

That’s according to Sport, who cover the player today and state that ‘time proves Ødegaard right’ after all.

They explain that the Norwegian has gone from being ‘discarded’ at Real Madrid to one of the best footballers in the Premier League and an ‘essential’ part of Mikel Arteta’s project.

The Norwegian had been deemed as not good enough by Real Madrid, with various loan deals failing to make him ready for Madrid before he ended up at Arsenal, again initially on loan.

They made the move a permanent one in 2021 and have been vindicated since, with time once again having put ‘everything in its place’.

Sport believe Real Madrid closed the doors too early on the midfielder, failing to give him the opportunities to impress or the confidence that Arteta has put in him.

He was discarded at the Santiago Bernabeu but not by Arteta, who ‘saw something in him’ and is now ‘reaping the fruits of it’.

Ødegaard is now the captain of the best Arsenal team in years, fighting for the Premier League table and reaching the quarterfinals of the Champions League for the first time in 14 years.

They are a side that has shown if you believe in a project and bet on it, anything can be achieved, according to Sport, and Ødegaard in the epitome of that.

His decision to move to the Emirates has been fully justified, and so has Arsenal’s faith, while Real Madrid’s lack of it is now something to be looked back at critically.