How many players could be out with ankle ligament damage for two months and reappear as if we blinked and missed it?

“He’s an unbelievable player,” Arsenal winger Bukayo Saka said of Odegaard. “The day he returned, there was a big smile on my face. You can see the chemistry we have. I hope he stays fit for the rest of the season.”

Your team has hit a creative rut that coincided with the absence of your primary playmaker? Get him back and all your problems evaporate. So yes, the semi-frequent leaden-footed attacking, sterile possession and clumsy decision-making that reared its unfamiliar head at Arsenal over the last two months was nothing more than a team unable to cope without Martin Odegaard.

Arsenal hadn’t tasted victory in the league since 5 October, giving Saturday a must-win feel. Martin Odegaard missed three of those four winless matches and what that streak proved more than anything else was that he is the most irreplaceable player in Arteta’s squad.