'He'a a warrior' - Arsenal have one special player who 'stands out more than Martin Odegaard'
Bruno Guimaraes could be even more central to the Arsenal team this season than Martin Odegaard.
That is the opinion of experienced former Tottenham, Everton and Aston Villa scout, Bryan King, speaking exclusively to Football Insider.
The 28-year-old joined the Gunners from Newcastle United in the summer transfer window, arriving in a deal worth around £75million.
Guimaraes suffered from injury in his first weeks at Arsenal, but made his first big contribution when he scored a stunning goal in Saturday's 2-0 win over Sunderland.
Tuesday also saw him deliver an impressive performance against Ipswich Town in the Carabao Cup as Mikel Arteta's side won 4-2.
Odegaard has been Arsenal's standout this season so far, having already scored four goals in seven games across all competitions.
Bruno Guimaraes 'has a drive about him'
What is expected to be Arteta's ideal midfield has only briefly been seen in action.
Guimaraes, Declan Rice and Odegaard will make up a trio bringing every attribute a top midfield would need.
With the Brazilian appearing to be approaching full fitness and sharpness, Saturday's trip to Brighton may well mark the first time they are deployed together from the start.
"All the big signings that were made in the summer, they're already playing central roles in the teams that they signed for," King told Football Insider.
"One of the best signings I have seen would be the boy from Newcastle to Arsenal. I just think he has an energy about him.
"He has a drive about him. For me, it'd be a very hard task to leave him out. He's the sort of player that stands out more than Martin Odegaard does, actually.
"He's more of a character, more of a character than Martin, although the way Martin's playing at the moment, you can't question that."
Mikel Arteta: Guimaraes to send Arsenal to 'next level'
The signing of Guimaraes was absolutely a statement for Arsenal, who have acquired one of the Premier League's best midfielders.
The Gunners' quality in the middle had already propelled them to the top step of the Premier League, but Arteta is keen for even more.
"I think he's a warrior with a tremendous quality as well and intuition and leadership and charisma that is going to help us, that is going to really ignite something different in the team," he said in August after Guimaraes had signed.
"I'm delighted to have him. We see very clearly - especially the energy that he brought immediately to the training ground - the hunger, the desire to come here and create a big history at the club. That's the ambition that we need.
"We want to go to the next level and are very, very much convinced that we're going to need players with such a personality, desire and character to push everybody inside the organisation to go even higher."