Arsenal midfielder and ex-captain Granit Xhaka has publicly backed Martin Odegaard to don the armband for the North London club.
Following Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang's departure after he was stripped of the captaincy last year, Mikel Arteta bestowed the responsibility onto fellow experienced centre-forward Alexandre Lacazette.
However, the Frenchman has only struck two goals from open play in the league this season and was recently dropped from the side in favour of Eddie Nketiah, while his contract is also up in the summer.
With Lacazette widely expected to depart as a free agent, Arteta will appoint a new permanent captain ahead of the 2022-23 season after recently relying on a crop of senior players to share responsibility.
Odegaard only arrived at Arsenal permanently in last summer's transfer window and is still only 23 years of age, but he has captained the Norway national team since 2021 and has worn the armband in the Gunners' last four Premier League games.
The ex-Real Madrid man has captained Arsenal to victories over Chelsea, Manchester United and West Ham United in the past few weeks, and Xhaka believes that the playmaker possesses the "DNA" to lead the side on a permanent basis.
"He is the future of this club. He's already captain when Alexandre Lacazette does not play. He can be very proud of himself," Xhaka told TV2, as quoted by The Athletic.
"You can see how far he has come in his head, mentally. He is very young, only 23, but in how he behaves and is on the field, he looks like he's 30. It looks like he has already played 500 or 600 games.
"He can definitely become Arsenal captain. He has the DNA in him. He works as hard every day as if he were in a fight. He does a lot of extra work. He is humble. Everyone in the dressing room listens to him. Why not?
"He is very humble, he is quiet as a person, he is not someone who talks a lot, and he does not talk very loudly. But when he says something, the message comes very clearly to us players. That's the key. It makes him very special."
Xhaka is no stranger to the Arsenal captaincy after being handed the responsibility by Unai Emery after Laurent Koscielny left the club in 2019, but tensions with the fans soon boiled over.
The Switzerland captain was stripped of the armband and on the verge of leaving after his outburst against Crystal Palace, but he has since become an integral part of the team under Arteta.
Xhaka ended the West Ham win as captain when Odegaard was taken off in the dying embers, and the 29-year-old recently told Sky Sports News that he would be open to taking the armband again.
"I will never say never. I was not ready for that again. A captain of Arsenal can be without an armband and I am trying to lead the game and the players without the armband, but if tomorrow someone from the football club comes and asks if I want to take it I will be here because I know I am ready again to do it," Xhaka told the broadcaster.
Kieran Tierney is regarded as another candidate to become Arteta's permanent captain from 2022-23 onwards, but the Scotland international is facing a long period on the sidelines after undergoing knee surgery.
Odegaard's first full season in the Premier League has seen him register six goals and four assists in 32 games for the Gunners, who still hold a two-point lead over Tottenham Hotspur in fourth place in the table.
Arteta's side continue their Champions League charge with the visit of Leeds United to the Emirates on Sunday afternoon before a make-or-break North London derby with Tottenham Hotspur on Thursday. body check tags ::
