IT is not yet the end of January, but Christian Norgaard is already dreaming about his perfect Christmas present.
For the last nine years, Norgaard’s grandma has given him a scrapbook each Christmas that looks back on his footballing achievements over the past 12 months.
And the Arsenal midfielder is hoping that this year it will be full of pictures of him holding a trophy aloft.
Perhaps even the Champions League?
The Gunners have won all seven of their games in this season’s competition as they welcome Kazakh side Kairat Almaty to the Emirates tonight.
Arsenal have wobbled in the title race, but they have been flawless in Europe.
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And Norgaard is dreaming about winning the Champions League, before reliving it all at Christmas.
The Dane said: “That would be the icing on the cake.
“The scrapbook is fantastic. It is the best Christmas present I get every year.
“So my grandma collects all sorts of different articles from different newspapers during the year.
“She has done that for nine years running now, so I have a big stack of scrapbooks at home.
“The whole family sits around that scrapbook on Christmas Eve and it is a very special moment for me and my family.
“Hopefully when my boys grow up they will look at these scrapbooks and see that Daddy was alright at football!”
Norgaard has only lifted silverware twice during his career. He won the Danish Cup with Brondby in 2018 and the Championship play-offs at Brentford five years ago.
But the midfielder is right to dream about success with Arsenal and should come into the team for tonight’s game with Kairat – who are bottom of the Champions League with one point to their name.
The Gunners have already secured a spot in the last 16 and a top-two finish after winning at Inter Milan last week.
Mikel Arteta has the luxury of being able to rotate his team ahead of Saturday’s trip to Leeds in the Prem, where Arsenal need to bounce back from last week’s loss to Manchester United.
Norgaard was in the stands for that 3-2 defeat and admitted to feeling “helpless” as Arteta’s side lost at home for the first time this season.
The midfielder has started just six games this season since joining from Brentford last summer for an initial fee of £10million.
But he has no regrets about the move across London and is eager to seize every chance presented to him.
Norgaard said: “It has been a fantastic experience for me so far this season.
“Obviously, I would love to play more minutes – but the minutes that I have had so far I have really enjoyed.
“Even though I am not playing as much, I still try to contribute with everything around the group.
“I knew that it would be a different role here than I had at Brentford. And I try to embrace it as much as possible.
“Of course, I do feel some sort of frustration when I don’t play – but I think that is really normal.
“It is about how do you change that frustration into a positive energy that you can then transmit to your team-mates.”
A lack of game time has led to Norgaard being linked with a move away and Dutch giants Ajax are tracking him.
But the midfielder said: “I am really, really happy here.
“The message that I get from the club is that they are really happy as well.
“It is developing. It is a learning curve for me as well.
“Hopefully, coming into the last part of the season, I can contribute more on the pitch.”
Despite a lack of minutes, Norgaard has not let his head drop and is a popular figure around Arsenal.
Fellow midfielder Martin Zubimendi also recently named him as the best trainer, which only underlines why the Dane captained Brentford during his time there.
Asked about his tag of being the best trainer, Norgaard said: “I do it for myself. I don’t do it to get closer to the team.
“I do it because I feel better as a human being and that should not be affected by whether I start or am on the bench.
“It is doing things that I know are good for me. I try to be very consistent whether I am in or out of the team.”
After a nervy loss to Man United last weekend, Norgaard and Arsenal will be hoping for a comfortable night against Kairat.
And, who knows, maybe even another memorable moment for Norgaard’s grandma to add to this year’s scrapbook.
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