Arsenal star Martin Ødegaard has admitted he had to deal with the ‘mental burden’ of last season across the summer as he rested following a big year at the Emirates.
Ødegaard has been speaking to TV 2 in his native Norway as he links up with his country for this international break.
The midfielder is once again enjoying his football after settling down at Arsenal and establishing himself as a key player under Mikel Arteta.
It was a role he played to perfection last season, becoming the heartbeat of the Arsenal team as their captain and creator in chief in the middle of the park.
He was very much one of the driving forces of their run for the title, which eventually fell short as Manchester City pulled away at the last and ended up as treble winners.
Indeed, the campaign ended up somewhat disappointingly for Arsenal, who had led the table for much of the campaign and navigated many hurdles in the process but fell by the wayside late on and allowed the Manchester City juggernaut to roll to success.
It’s a disappointment they are still dealing with as the league starts again, and Ødegaard admits he had to spend the summer working things over himself.
“The whole ending, first with the club and then with the national team, was difficult. I had a good season, a lot of good things happened, but when you finish like that, it becomes extra heavy,” he said.
“I felt I was very tired after the season. I needed a break, needed to disconnect and do completely different things. The sum of both the club season and what happened here made it an even more tired body and a tired head that needed a holiday.
“When I was younger, I felt that I could get very caught up in everything that happens. Battles could affect me for a long time. Now that I’ve gotten a little older, I feel like I’m able to come home, do other things and shut it out.”
