According to the Evening Standard, Arsenal will offer Martin Odegaard a new long-term contract with a pay increase that reflects his increased standing at the club
The Norway international put pen to paper on a three-plus-one deal when he joined from Real Madrid in the summer of 2022 and he’s since become a lynchpin of Mikel Arteta’s side and the Spaniard’s captain.
The Gunners have made a concerted effort to reduce a bloated wage bill in the last three years – sometimes paying players to leave the club – and now, thanks to Champions League qualification, feel well placed financially to suitably remunerate a new core of players.
In addition to the high-profile arrivals of Oleksandr Zinchenko and Gabriel Jesus, Gabriel Magalhaes and Gabriel Martinelli have recently agreed new deals and Aaron Ramsdale and Bukayo Saka are set to follow suit in the coming days and weeks. Negotiations remain ongoing with William Saliba.
That Arsenal want to tie down Odegaard is no surprise. This season he has scored 15 goals and made 8 assists in 43 appearances and has been nominated for both the FWA Footballer of the Year and PFA Fans’ Player of the Year awards. He has already picked up the gong for Footballer of the Year at the London Football Awards.
His value has also rocketed with Transfermarkt estimating he’s worth €80 million, more than double what the Gunners paid for him.
Quite sure everybody else wants to pinch him
Well-deserved, he has reached a new level this season. Hope he stays with us with many more, trophy-laden, years.
@Andrew: there’s a minor error, he actually arrived in the summer of 2021 and not 2022.
Quite right too.
Captain Fantastic. He needs massive recognition for his leadership, his efforts and his goals and assists.
We are so lucky to have him. Come on Arsenal; do the right thing.
COYG
He’s a terrific player, and has been one of our most important players this season, but he’s not a captain. Finding an influential, inspirational captain is one of the key challenges that Arteta now faces. We also need other strong leaders in the dressing room and on the pitch if we are to avoid yet another pathetic capitulation next season.
This team is unbelievably talented; it just needs a few leaders that can provide it with a bit of steel. Then we can finally start to win things.
Just curious, do actually have any information about how he captains this team?
More often than not, he’s the only player to press correctly during games, uplifts players, talks to them, huddles during games etc etc etc. This is only during the 90 minutes we are exposed to on television. Do you have some full-access to the team where you get to see him and the team practice and how he holds himself at half time/ after games with the team?
Must be nice.
He’s so great he gets subbed almost every game.
Do you see any Patrick Vieira in him though?
No: he’s more like Patrick Swayze – only a worse dancer.
I think his fridge has broken that’s why he is so miserable.
No: I’m miserable because we bottled the title.
I think you’re wrong about Ode, but right in the type of personalities we should be looking at.
This guy seems to be wrong about most things, not just Ode!
He’s one of the big Arseblog personalities. A unique combination of good footballing knowledge but still almost always wrong. It’s hard not to like Fats. The place wouldn’t be the same without him.
This is the internet in 2023. Everyone you converse with must share the exact same view as you, otherwise they are the spawn of the Devil.
I don’t recall saying people must agree with me. I do like Fats, in spite of his moaning, if that’s OK with everyone?
Big Gabby?
Most technical player we’ve had since Santi and Fabregas. Higher ceiling than De Bruyne in my opinion. Do whatever it takes to lock him in.
Higher ceiling than KDB?
I would actually like for you to be proven right. But KDB is beast
Not quite sure about Santi and De Bruyne…but Fabregas…yeah…Fab peak very early and was at his marvelous best when he was playing for us..He may have won titles after that but I dont think he ever reached the same heights in term of performance.
It’s important to prioritise the safeguarding of the team’s core. Excellent news and if someone does nick him(heaven forbid), at least it’ll not be for peanuts.
First day of training next season is going to be funny, who will have the flashiest sportscar!
For some reason I can’t picture Odegaard driving a flashy sports car. Or Saka for that matter (but I can’t even picture him having passed his driving test yet, ha).
Definitely deserves it.
Player of the season in my opinion.
Nah , not even top 3.
You gotta lock that down.
Look, he really doesn’t have the experience to grab his team mates and get them to knuckle down when we’re struggling. He was peripheral at Madrid, it’s with us that he’s realised his true worth. He’s a captain, just not necessarily for all occasions and we suffer terribly when we lose focus and teams get at us. Trouble is there aren’t many candidates for this role around any more. True leadership, inspiration, support and encouragement should come from the head coach. I think Arteta does a good job on the side-lines of this for the most part, but seems to… Read more »
Decent bit of news this. Ø you are an absolute boss and I feel blessed to have you at our club.