Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard says he's always had a "connection" to the club.

Odegaard's love for Arsenal as a teen may also have played a role in the move.

The midfield maestro has admitted that he'd always play with Arsenal on video game franchise FIFA.

He told the Players' Tribune: "I've always had this weird connection to Arsenal.

"It started long before I signed. I don't even really know how to explain it, except with one little story.

"I've never been that much into video games. I am of that generation that always played outside, but the one exception was FIFA.

"I mostly played Career Mode. You know, where you get to be the manager?

"The club I always chose to manage was Arsenal. They were my FIFA team.

"Growing up in Norway, I watched a lot of Premier League and I just had this good feeling about Arsenal. I'd seen clips of Thierry Henry and the Invincibles.

"I knew the club had a history of developing playmakers like Cesc Fabregas, Samir Nasri, Mesut Ozil — really smart, technical players, who were good on the ball and played the difficult passes. My kind of players.

"As I got older, around the 2015 edition, I started actually appearing in FIFA.

"I didn't look much like me at first. I think I was like a 67 overall, but I was actually in the game and it was a big deal.

"So, naturally, one of the first things I did when I was pretending to be Arsene Wenger on Career Mode was to buy myself.

"Me and Arsenal. It just seemed like a good match in my head.

"That special connection turned into a reality when I signed here two years ago. It was a decision that changed my life around. I come into training smiling every day.

"But my story is definitely not Career Mode. This has been a very different journey to how I imagined it on FIFA.

"In real life, you can't just select where you want to go and everything will be perfect."