Graeme Souness names the player who should beat Martin Odegaard to footballer of the year | Football

Graeme Souness believes Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard should be in the mix to be crowned Football of the Year but insists he is likely to miss out to Manchester City’s man of the moment.

Odegaard has enjoyed another outstanding campaign and has been one of the driving forces behind the Gunners’ push for major European and domestic honours.

The Norway international put in another vintage performance in midweek as Arsenal battled back against Bayern Munich to keep their Champions League hopes alive.

Odegaard, however, was eclipsed by Phil Foden who ran the show in Manchester City’s pulsating 3-3 draw against Real Madrid and scored another outstanding goal to add to his growing catalogue.

‘The votes are being cast for the footballer of the year and Arsenal’s captain Martin Odegaard will have to be in the mix,’ Souness told Mail Sport. ‘However, Manchester City’s Phil Foden gets my vote.

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‘He has been outstanding. He appears to have that attitude where he wants to learn something new every day in training and we are seeing a real superstar in the making.

‘His goal against Real Madrid in midweek summed him up. Calmness under pressure, he shifted the ball out of his feet and hit it so smoothly. He is a terrific striker of the ball.

‘The standard of the quarter finals were everything you would hope for, a fabulous watch, a great advert for Champions League football and Manchester City and Arsenal have nothing to fear going into the second legs.

‘The only problem is every one of those teams will be thinking the same. That’s the mentality of the best players.’

The England international was, meanwhile, forced off with three minutes remaining against Real after suffering a dead leg.

City host Luton Town at the Etihad Stadium on Saturday and Guardiola has confirmed that Foden was due to be assessed after Friday’s training session.

‘We’re training this afternoon, then we will know better how they feel,’ Guardiola said during his pre-match press conference on Friday.

When asked specifically about Foden’s availability, Guardiola said: ‘I would like to tell you but I didn’t see the team or speak with the doctors.

‘So, we will train this afternoon. Now, when I finish the press conference, I will make a meeting and we will see how they feel.’

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