Martin Odegaard is striving to lift his first piece of major silverware as Arsenal captain in the 2024/25 season. The Norwegian midfielder has this ‘new year, new me’ attitude to himself this season and that has also reflected in his appearance.
Towards the beginning of the campaign, Odegaard has surprised many by sporting a bearded look.
Normally, as far as one can remember him as a professional footballer, Odegaard almost always preferred to be clean shaved.
At least during his three years at Arsenal, the midfield maestro has always kept a clean look without a single hair of beard on his face.
But he now appears to have changed that perception and has readily sported a new bearded look. It’s not like Odegaard has face full of beard like a Viking, but he’s kept a well-shaped new facial hair that is noticeable upon closer inspection.
Odegaard appears to have kept a golden brown colored goatee this time around. That is also complimented with a very thin moustache, being shaped to make him look stylish and manly.
Now that he’s the undisputed ‘leader’ of the Arsenal team, the 25-year-old midfielder might’ve kept this beard to reflect his seniority in the squad and make him look his age.
The Norwegian’s clean shaven look made him come off as much younger than what he really is. Odegaard is clearly someone who takes good care of his appearance in an effort to make himself look presentable. Well, his skin’s condition is still flawless but the midfielder’s strange goatee is irking some Arsenal fans.
There have been calls from many supporters for him to get rid of this goatee and moustache combination. Some fans are claiming that the goatee actually makes the Arsenal skipper look less handsome than he does with a clean-shaved look.
One supporter even claimed that this little beard is actually ‘ruining’ Odegaard’s aura and making him look less dazzling than before.
The general consensus seems to be that this interesting goatee plus moustache combo is not working well for the Norwegian midfielder’s face and that with his appearance, he’s much better off being clean shaven.
Some fans have also warned him not to stray the same path with experimenting with their looks as Ben White and Bukayo Saka have done in the past.
Saka dyed his hair blonde last season, which caused his form to dip and forced him to quickly revert back to a black hairstyle. Even White’s attempt at going blonde went badly last year, with fierce criticism from fans forcing him to get rid of it.
An Arsenal supporter has even hilariously insisted that anything bad Odegaard does will be blamed on his beard. There are a few Gooners who actually like seeing their captain experimenting with his facial hair and feel the beard makes him look ‘manly’ but the overall feeling is that the goatee comes off as awkward and unsuitable.
The 25-year-old has not yet made any public comment on his beard or explained his decision to suddenly sport one.
Considering the heavy backlash that his facial hair is facing from fans, the Arsenal skipper might be forced to cave to demands and revert back to a clean shaven look and continue weaving his magic on the pitch for the Gunners.