Tunnel cam footage shows why Declan Rice waited for Arsenal captain Martin

Odegaard has become a leading light at the Emirates and has thrived since being given the captaincy. The playmaker, signed from Real Madrid permanently last season, has begun to realise his potential having been tipped as a future superstar during his teenage years.

He is looking to become the first Arsenal captain in almost two decades to lift the Premier League trophy, but two draws in the space of a week have hampered their charge with City closing in. Despite that Odegaard has remained positive after their stalemate at West Ham.

The Norwegian said: “We have to remember we are still top of the league with everything in our own hands. The same mindset, same mentality to make sure we win the next one.”

He added on their performance: “A lot of the same things to last week, started well but then we stopped, allowed them to play on their qualities. We gave them the game they wanted, we gave them hope, and that’s on us. We have to look forward now. We started to do a lot of stupid things on the ball, we allowed them to play on the long balls.”

Arsenal had seen a two-goal lead slip at Liverpool last weekend but Arteta didn’t draw any parallels with that experience and instead claimed his side needed to manage the contest better.

He said: “It can happen but again, what goes through every mind is probably different. At half-time we all knew what we had to do and what we had to do better. Credit to West Ham – when they started to play their game. If they are efficient in those first two goals, it is difficult because you have to fight and earn the right to play. But when we did it, especially with the changes, we had to have more composure to finish the game.”