Martin Odegaard has vowed to write his name into Arsenal history by “winning everything” and becoming an all-time club great.
Odegaard, who captained the Gunners for the 100th time in the 1-1 draw at Fulham on Sunday, will again lead his side out in their Champions League fixture against Monaco at the Emirates on Wednesday.
The Gunners are seventh in the new 36-team league format – the top eight secure automatic qualification for the knockout stages – and third in the race for the Premier League title, six points adrift of Liverpool having played a game more.
But, when asked if he is ready to win a Champions League or Premier League title, the 25-year old said: “Obviously if you do that then everyone will remember you because you write history and that is the feeling from everyone in the squad.
“We want to do something really special. We want to win everything. That’s the mindset of everyone. We want to win trophies. We want to win every time we play. We all share that mindset and we just want to win and make sure that the trophies come to the club.
“Growing up, I watched the Premier League and I dreamt of playing here. Now I am the captain so that fills me with massive inspiration and inspires me to do better and improve all the time.”
Odegaard was sidelined for two months with an ankle injury, but he returned as a late substitute in the 1-0 defeat at Inter Milan last month before starting the club’s next five matches.
Arsenal have won four – including a thumping 5-1 win in Lisbon against Sporting – and drawn one of those fixtures.
Mikel Arteta’s side fell at the quarter-final stage in the Champions League last season after they came unstuck against Bayern Munich, but Odegaard believes they are ready to go all the way and deliver their first ever Champions League title.
“That’s the feeling in the squad,” he continued. “Everyone believes so much in what we are doing. We have confidence in everything we do as a team.
“Last year we learned a few good lessons. We wanted to go all the way (in the Champions League) and we didn’t so we had to take those lessons and make sure we got better.
“If you look at the last game (against Sporting) it was a really tough fixture away from home and we did amazingly.
“That is a sign of improvement. We believe in what we do and hopefully this can be the year.”