“Just cash in and sell him” - Martin Odegaard decides after being asked to ‘start, bench, sell’ Erling Haaland, Viktor Gyokeres and Alexander Isak

Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard has revealed that he would opt to sell Erling Haaland and bench Alexander Isak to start Viktor Gyokeres. The Norwegian was laughing as he made the calls, indicating that he was joking with the choices.

In an interview with TV2 Sport ahead of Norway's FIFA World Cup qualifier against Moldova on Tuesday, September 9, Odegaard was asked the classic 'start, bench, sell' question. His options were his national teammate Haaland, his former Real Sociedad teammate Isak, and new Arsenal signing Gyokeres.

The Gunners captain straightaway joked that he would sell Haaland and collect the transfer fee. He opted to bench Premier League record signing Isak and backed Gyokeres to start. He said:

"Erling, just cash in and sell him. Start Gyokeres and then Isak on the bench."

Ogedaard has played 38 matches with Erling Haaland with the national team. The two have combined for six goals, all scored by the Manchester City striker, including once in the 3-0 win over Italy earlier this year.

The Arsenal star played just one season alongside Alexander Isak at Real Sociedad, with the duo appearing on the pitch together in 35 games. They combined for four goals, and they came in wins over Osasuna, Espanyol, and Celta Vigo.

Odegaard has just started playing with Gyokeres, and they have played three matches under Mikel Arteta. The duo are yet to complete a full game together, and have not combined for a goal in their 118 minutes on the pitch.

Alexander Isak is not on the same level as Erling Haaland, said Louis Saha

Former Premier League striker Louis Saha spoke to Spaceport Sweden in January 2025 and claimed that Erling Haaland was ahead of all strikers in the world. He believes that Alexander Isak had a great season with Newcastle United, but was a level below the Manchester City star. He said (via OneFootball):

“Erling Haaland is the best striker in the Premier League by a distance. Other than Haaland, I’m struggling. You’ve got Alexander Isak at Newcastle United who is having a brilliant season, but I would put him in the same category as Ollie Watkins at Aston Villa and Dom Solanke at Tottenham.

“They are good players but they are not superstars in the mould of Harry Kane or Robert Lewandowski. I think that Rasmus Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee are good players. They work hard, you can see that they’re trying their best. Can they score 20 goals a season? Not right now, maybe in the future.”

Erling Haaland and Alexander Isak were in red-hot form in the 2024/25 Premier League season, but failed to win the Golden Boot despite scoring 22 and 23 goals respectively. Liverpool's Mohamed Salah ran away with the award after scoring 29 goals in the season.