Martin Ødegaard has said he is relishing the prospect of acting as a mentor to 15-year-olds Max Dowman and Marli Salmon so they can “shine” in the Arsenal first team.
Both playmaker Dowman and defender Salmon have impressed on the club’s preseason tour to Asia and could be set to play some part in their final game of the trip against Tottenham in Hong Kong on Thursday.
Dowman produced a match-winning moment as a substitute in Arsenal’s victory over Newcastle and his attacking ability draws some comparisons with Odegaard, who became an overnight sensation when signing from Stromsgotset for Real Madrid in 2015, aged just 16.
Spells on loan at Heerenveen, Vitesse and Real Sociedad followed as his career stalled but another loan spell to Arsenal preceded a €40m move in 2021.
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Now club captain, Odegaard said of Dowman and Salmon: “I think to be fair I think the whole squad is really good in this way to help the young players.
“With those two they’re so young and have so much quality. I think myself I just try to share my experience, guide them in the right direction, help them to keep the right mindset because you can see that the quality is obviously there.
“[I’m] just trying to help them to have the right mindset and to help them feel good in the team and to kind of let them shine and do their thing. They’ve been amazing on this tour and you can also see the quality. So yeah, it’ll be exciting to see in the future.”
