Martin Ødegaard joins Arsenal on a loan | A feeling of pride and nationality

As most people who follow football in the Premier League probably already knows, Martin Ødegaard has signed for Arsenal on a loan. It's been the big talking point around the club for the last couple of days, but today it was finally made official by the club.

This transfer moved fast. The rumors first surfaced six days ago and if Fabrizio Romano is someone to go by, which he often is, it was a done deal three days later.

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Being Norwegian myself this is huge to me. Having a Norwegian player of this caliber and talent playing for the club I love and follow so closely really is something special. I'm sure every Norwegian Manchester United fan has felt the same with Solskjær, as well as Norwegian Liverpool fans with Riise.

This isn't the first time a Norwegian has joined Arsenal, but it's the first time a Norwegian might actually make an impact. Pål Lydersen was there in the 90's although he didn't make more than 15 appearances. Håvard Nordtveit also joined in 2007, and although he was at Arsenal for four years he spent most of that time on loan, and only ever played for the reserves. None of them ever had any impact.

Martin Ødegaard now has a chance to make a real impact. With the Premier League teams being as shaky as they have been this season there is a real chance that this impact might be huge. Arsenal has, as we all know, had a horrendous start to the season. We don't need to rewind more than five weeks to a time when I felt like all hope was lost. One hell of a match against Chelsea on Boxing Day later and it's all turned around. Being as low down as the 15th place on the table back then, Arsenal has now claimed 16 out of 18 possible points in their last six matches. The point gap to Chelsea was 11 points at that time. Now Arsenal are 1 point above Chelsea and only 4 points behind Liverpool, albeit with one more match played over both. Amazing turnaround.

The next six matches are both crucial and way tougher than the last six. In those six Arsenal will be facing Manchester United, Aston Villa, Wolves, Leeds, Manchester City and Leicester. Three of which currently inherits the top three spots in the Premier League table. Aston Villa ain't no joke either. They're only 1 point behind Arsenal with three less games played. That's a potential point gap of 8 points which sees them 4th in the league, given that they had played and won those three matches.

Adding depth and creativity in the forward positions on the pitch is crucial in this part of the season. Defensively everything seems to be ok. Since the aforementioned match against Chelsea, Arsenal has conceded no more than two goals, including that match. These are words you would not expect to hear at all just a couple of months ago. The attack has been decent as well, but it's been to reliant on individuals. It was very clear in the cup match against Southampton that missing the creativity of Emile Smith Rowe and Bukayo Saka and the stability of Thomas Partey was huge. What this tells us is that Arsenal are lacking depth. Especially in the midfield. With Ødegaard Arsenal get just that. Smith Rowe can be rested more often without it having a huge impact on the results. He is, all things considered, just 20 years old and has just started making first team appearances.

Of course, this could all be wrong. It is just speculations. There is no guarantee that Ødegaard will bring anything to the team. Only time will show. I am however feeling really good about this loan and I really hope it will turn into something special. And who knows. Maybe he'll join us on a full transfer in the summer? Unlikely, but a man can hope. Just let a man hope.

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