ODE TO JOY

I’m a former Premier League star who trained with Odegaard at Liverpool when he was 15 – now I want to beat him tonight

Arsenal take on Sevilla in Champions League and one ace is ready for a reunion with Odegaard

Anthony Chapman

24th October 2023, 8:59 am

Updated: 24th October 2023, 9:01 am

FORMER Premier League star Suso is ready to take down Arsenal with Sevilla tonight.

And the game will also see him reunite with Martin Odegaard — a decade after the Norwegian trained with Suso at Liverpool.

Alan Walter - The Times

Spanish ace Suso is ready to reunite with Martin Odegaard after they trained together at Liverpool

Alamy

Odegaard is now captain of Arsenal and is looking to beat in Sevilla in the Champions League

Arsenal are looking to bounce back from last month’s Champions League defeat to Lens by securing victory at Sevilla tonight.

The Gunners know that a win in Spain will give their qualification hopes a huge shot in the arm.

And captain Odegaard will be looking to pull the strings in midfield as usual.

However, he could be set to come up against a familiar face this evening.

Winger Suso is in his fifth season with Sevilla and is pushing for a start under manager Diego Alonso.

The former AC Milan star began his professional career in the 2012/13 season with Rafa Benitez’s Liverpool.

And a year later Odegaard came to town for a brief training period as he shopped around for a new club.

The whizkid was just 15 years old at the time and was wanted by numerous top European clubs.

Getty

Suso is hoping to start for the Spanish side tonight

Odegaard eventually opted to join Real Madrid on a mega contract in January 2015.

But Suso still has fond memories of training alongside the then-teen prodigy.

He told the “It was that era when everyone wanted him. He was with us for about a week.

“He stood out because, like now, he had that shock of blond hair and he was a leftie.

“I’m left-footed so I notice the left-footers more. You could see he had a lot of talent.”

Suso ended up leaving Liverpool in the same January window for Milan.

Reflecting on his time at Anfield, which yielded one goal in 21 games, Suso added: “I got on really well with Jose Enrique and Luis Suarez.

“The Liverpool opportunity was once in a lifetime. [I understood the accent of] Steven Gerrard a bit, but Jamie Carragher, he’s incredible.

“I would have liked to work with Jurgen Klopp. Look how he changed Liverpool.

“They went from being a good team to being a very good team, one of the best in the world.”