Mikel Arteta says Arsenal will hold talks with Martin Odegaard and Real Madrid but he’s not sure at this point if a deal to keep the Norwegian, either on loan or permanently, is going to be possible.
The 22-year-old has settled well in London and enjoyed regular game time in Arsenal’s midfield but despite Arteta’s admiration, there are suggestions he’ll be recalled by his parent club for another shot at breaking into the Bernabeu first team.
Asked what will happen next to Odegaard, who signed off his season with an assist for Nicolas Pepe in the final day 2-0 win over Brighton, Arteta said: “We have a very clear and strong opinion on what we’d like to do.
“He’s not our player, we will have discussions in the next few weeks. We respect he’s a Real Madrid player and will have those communications.
“We’ve tried to make everything that we could to get Martin performing for the team, which I think he’s done, and he’s adapted really well to our way of playing and our football club.
“Hopefully, we have given him the hope and the feeling that this could be a good place for him here.”
Asked if he was confident of any form of deal, he added: “I don’t know, it’s not in our hands.”
He is not coming back to Arsenal! ESR should be playing through the middle!
He’s a good player but i dont think he has done enough to warrant a permanent transfer. Would not like to spend more then 30m on him if buendia is available.
My first preference is we find good technical midfielders at least 2 of them! After that buendia or whoever! But we really somebody who can progress the ball through midfield! Transition quickly from defense to attack!
Thomas Partey still leaves a lot to be desired! And xhaka is xhaka! I really hope we can find somebody like that!
Norwich want more than that for Buendia!
An they need to bolster the team for EPL not weaken.
Spot on. Odegaard is very average. Sticking him next to ESR makes both worse, ESR is superior. Playing Odegaard limits our attacking creativity- real soceidad is his level, not Madrid or Arsenal.
I would like to clarify the comment. It’s not that i don’t think he’s a good player. In fact he’s a great player to be happening. But I don’t think Real will let him go or we have a realistic chance of getting him, especially when the funds are so tight this summer. Also i also think we need actual midfield players with great engines.
Its true esr can play the centre but its a risk cos he’s the only one who can. So we will,still need to get someone in if we lose odegaard. Unless we find a way for willock to play in a hybrid 8/10 role to add goal threat instead,if key passing in some games.
We should keep him but he is one that will have patches of great and not-so-good forms.
Why is this getting voted down? It’s absolutely true. I like him overall, but this comment is very true. Did the down voters not watch the Liverpool game?
For me Martin would just be too expensive with the lack of end product. We also have a lot of players in that position.
I’m begging you to watch a Real Sociedad game from last season… Odegaard was sensational and dragged the team into the top 4 battle. We signed him half-fit having barely played for Zidane, and now that he’s settled I hope he can show what he’s capable of with 38 matches a year
What he did in Spain isn’t relevant after 6 moths of watching him play in the PL.
If he’s available for loan again though, I’d happily take him for another 12 months but I wouldn’t pay more than £25m for him and really think we should aim higher.
Grealish would improve our starting 11, not sure the Norwegian does.
I also know Harland or Mbappe would improve our striking force, hahaha
If we can’t even try to sign a player from Aston Villa we might as well go home.
I’m not the clubs accountant, so I don’t care at all to think about what ‘too expensive’ is. So was Pepe up until about 3 weeks ago.
I think he’s got excellent composure and the technical and creative chops that do us a ton of good. Time with the club would only serve to make it more obvious.
So I’m hoping Zidane sticks around at Real. That would improve our chances of at least another year loan.
If a transfer or loan option opened up I’d snatch it with both hands and run. I think he has what it takes.
To be honest we should look for someone better and more accomplished, unless odegard is coming cheap.
🤣
Stop it, mate. My sides are aching…..
Like…?
Grealish…?
With the teams in Europe gunning for him, I can’t see him at Arsenal. And then there’s the price tag. But who knows…
Come on mate, why the actual fuck would Jack Grealish want to join us at the moment……?
If we made a bid for him, the media would go into an absolute meltdown laughing at us.
Then why would Odegaard…? Should we just give up then..?
He’s also a part of the team. They know him, he knows them.
With a name like Francesc I would have thought you’d see some characteristics in the lad you might like.
Really hope we get him, brilliant young player
not that young anymore. he’s approaching his peak years already. Need to show some serious end product, consistency and leadership to be worthy
I’d agree with you if he had more than 5 months to bed into the team. He’s only been here since January, in a full year did well at Sociedad, and was dicked around at Real.
He’s only 23, in a midfield / attacking midfield position. He’s probably right on schedule for a top talent despite having to re-adjust all the time.
His need to be playing regularly now and Arteta’s reputation at City for developing players and current record here with ESR, Saka, and Odegaard himself, being trusted to earn their spots could play a big role in negotiations.
Odegaard is 22, until he turns 23 in December, because that is how it works
Ahah, right you are.. all the more to the point.
We need more creative midfielder like him in our team during the time of Wenger we used to have like five creative midfielders in our team, we can see the lack of goals scored in our team every season after Wenger, goals scored per season is dwindling every season after him
He’s not that creative though. We all love Saka, ESR and most advocate for Auba down the middle, Odegard has played at number 10 with those 3 players around him and we’ve lacked creativity. If he came in and we were playing with those 4 next season, we’ll continue to struggle to break teams down 100%.
Pepe/ESR/Saka/Odegaard rotating the 3 spots behind the striker (Auba/Martinelli) seems like a good level of depth that allows everybody to get sufficient game time. I’d sign him up to £40m, but for any more money I’d rather drop £70m on Grealish.
If he’s not going for less than £30m and we can’t get him back on loan, I’d offer Willock and £30m for Grealish.
Hahaha, u really serious to dream
Why would we want to sign the overrated diving cheat.
Because he has 6 goals and 10 assists in 26 PL games this season. Ødegaard has 1 goal and 2 assists in 14. Grealish is a superior player in every way and that’s what we need to improve this team.
but can grealish obey the non-negotiables?
Grealish has been with Villa since he was 6. He’s been in the senior setup there since 2014. 4 Seasons in the PL. I’d say he’s had a bit more time to adapt to his club and the league.
Odegaard has been here 5 months. In the PL 5 months. Didn’t have a preseason with us, just right into the fold. And he doesn’t look a bit out of place.
“he doesn’t look a bit out of place.” – in a team that finished 8th. Grealish looks completley out of place at Villa.
In the Premier League.
Sheesh.
Grealish isn’t going to leave his boyhood club for another mid table team lol, what are you on about?
It is easy to forget that Odegaard was with us for only half a season, since Arsenal effectively played only for half a season, the win at Old Trafford notwithstanding.
When he was in the team before his injury he was constantly driving Arsenal forward. He took a bit after the injury, but certainly never did he perform so poorly as to consider him below Arsenal standards, especially when Arsenal are far below Arsenal standards.
The only thing about this is whether we can afford him. Everybody would be happy to be able to afford him.
Put it this way: if only the games since Odegaard signed counted we’d have finished in the top 4 this season. I’m genuinely baffled why people are turning their noses up at him!
I am not sure why the idea of an Odegaard in hand being worth a Grealish (yuck) or Buendia in the bush passes people by.
For me, it will depend on the asking price if Madrid are willing to sell.
Anything beyond £30m is a No for me.
I’d say ho for Buendia? and Bissouma and our midfield is set for the top 4 battle next season.
Top 4 relegation battle you mean?
Quite surprised at the negativity here. Personally I think he’s been superb and he’s needed practically no adaptation period at all to the Premier League. And he’s 22 years old – massive potential still to realise.
I would love to see what he could do over the next 5 years playing with Saka, ESR, Martinelli, Tierney and all peaking together. Football is never that simple though is it.
I don’t understand it either–he’s so obviously a quality player. The issue at Real is whether he is good enough to replace Luka Modric. (You know, the guy who won the ballon d’or.) I hope they decide he’s not.
It’s the end product. 1 assist and 2 goals! We’re The Arsenal. We can do better than that. We used to score goals for fun from midfield. Sorry, but not interested in flicks and running with no end product.
Why so many of our fan still living in the past, we must aware of our current status n accept that we need time to recover
There isn’t enough end product for someone playing at number 10, he offers little goal threat and has been playing in a team that has lacked creativity for months. He works hard but I’m not sure what people are seeing if I’m honest, he’s only had 1 standout performance vs West Ham….
Exactly. He’s a second rate Ozil. More suited to sociedad than Madrid or Arsenal.
Started okay when he arrived but not worth the money
He’s game vs westham was one of the best performance i’ve witnessed from a AMF since santi vs city(although santi was playing CMF) but still it was a really impressive game from Martin. That being said I’m really on the fence when it comes to the decision of buying him if RM will be asking for the rumoured price quotation, i would rather we snap up buendia cause he plays RW and AM plus he’s playing style really resembles Santi’s too.
Why is playing RW a positive for Buendía? We already have two excellent left-footed right wingers (Saka and Pepe) and it’s probably the position we have best depth in the squad.
Surely having the ability to play more roles then 1 is a positive? Whether he would get to play RW isnt the point here, the point is he CAN play there quite well so it has to be a positive if the team got to a point where he might be needed to play at RW.
I think we have a real shot of getting him. Real hasn’t exactly treated him great, cancelled his loan at Sociedad only not to play him and deem him surplus in Madrid’s first trophy less season in more than ten years. The he goes to the Arsenal and has already played more games for us than for them, clearly has the managers trust, who threw him right in the mix when he arrived and has played him consistently. We also have a lot of players who are young and that he could play with for a number of years. So… Read more »
He’s got 1 goal snack 2 assists. Sorry but that’s not good enough for our No. 10. If that’s the level of our ambition, then we’re not going anywhere. We need more assists and goals from midfield. Yes he’s tidy and skilful, but he’s just not effective where if matters most, goals and assists.
Ideally take him on another loan so we don’t have to shell out. To me he looks like real quality and I think the stats will follow.
Because no one has ever improved their goals and assists from one season to the next, right?
He’s only been here since January!
Cesc Fabregas had only 2 goals and 2 assists in 33 league appearances his second season with the club.
I would happily have him back for another loan – even permanently if it isn’t going to be prohibitively expensive. It depends a lot on the trade-off would we have to sell Willock to get Odegaard? As Arteta says, it’s out of our hands.
He’s good, and if we could get him really cheap, I’d be fine with it.
But…given we have Saka, ESR, Willock and Azeez all young, able to play in attacking mid, and all homegrown, can’t see that it makes sense to pay a lot for a foreign player in that role.
My guess is that Ödegaard after the season he’s had with us will head back to Real where he’ll do very well indeed. Even more so if Haaland moves there.
It’s been great having him here but I think we need to be realistic and accept that the chances of him staying are slim. So the question is, who do we find to replace him?
I think that really depends on if Real see Odegaard as a solution to their problems. They’re incensed right now at their season’s result. Do they think Odegaard will help,them right the ship? Their usual response to situations like this is to ship out boatloads of money on new acquisitions. I could certainly be wrong, but it might be they take a more heavy-walleted approach that leaves Odegaard surplus or value to be cashed in and invested on shiny new toys. But I agree, if not him we will definitely need at minimum 1 AM. ESR can’t play every match… Read more »
It would be good for us if they did go on their usual spending spree but the difference between Real of now and Real of the old is they’re massively in debt. They might actually be forced to see sense and make something of what they have rather than go down the familiar route they can’t afford anymore.
Well know by the end of summer I guess. Fingers crossed we get Ödegaard. Let’s pinch Haaland while we’re at it!
I don’t believe Ødegaard would cost more than Buendia and technically, i believe he is a better player. He hardly played any games before he came to us and i believe next season he would show just how good he can be. I’ve always rated him because he is class, if you saw any of the games he played in Sociadad, you would see what i mean….
Buendia, great player in the championship, odegarrd not good enough for la Liga and sure can creat a goal or two in the EPL. However Smith-Rowe and Willock are ripping it up this year and for some reason we all want to waste money in this department?
On top of that we have maitland-niles, Torreira and Guendozi.
I would sell Lucas and Guen in a heartbeat to fund buying MO. He has the passing vision and lock picking skills we need against low block teams.
We all need to keep in mind he was injured and rounding back into form when he came to us and got a knock on International Duty. He makes our press better as well, since Laca has lead boots.
Torreira and Guendouzi are as good as gone. Torreira doesn’t want to be in England, Guendouzi doesn’t want to be coached, apparently. That isn’t going to fly with Arteta, just as it wouldn’t with many other managers. None in the top 10 for sure.
Maitland-Niles I do not believe will be a starting midfielder for us. RB? Maybe.
Stop worrying about other teams players. Big teams do not loan players from other teams. Do Man City, United, Liverpool and Chelsea bring in other teams players? Instead Arsenal have piss beg and borrow not only from Real Madrid, but from Brighton for heaven sakes. Willock, Smith-Rowe and Okonkwo were good enough to stop us loaning Ceballos, Odegaard and Ryan. Saliba and Mavropanos were good enough to stop us giving Luiz another year. I would have preferred Torreira and Guendozi over Xhaka and Elneny all day long. Whilst Maitland-Niles could also have done a better job than Bellerin and Cedric.… Read more »
Bissouma and Pepe played together at Lille when Pepe was in magical form in a counter attacking side.
Would be interesting to pull up some statistics on how many goals were created on the transition from a bissouma tackle and finished by Pepe
No more loans please. If you want him, arteta, splash the cash
Nah hes,not thst good, zidane. Get rid of hin and keep ceballos instead.
We will have issues with recruitment. Which is why I have consistently said for 4 or 5 seasons now we need to stop mucking about, show some ambition, get in more experience people than Edu. We need to get the summer absolutely right, there is no margin for error. Remember we have 15m commited to Pepe and Saliba to service. And whilst we need to sell – Laca/Bellerin/Guendouzi/Nelson/(maybe AMN)/Mavro/Elneny/Nketiah, we have been thus far poor fetching price (with Torreira and Kolasinac evidence) The more we can make in market in sales, the more we can afford. Having said that, without… Read more »
Precarious times, sorry to say but I have no faith in our transfer policy. We will probably spend money. But on the wrong players. What we are looking at are championship players. Mud table at best and we Wong even get that done. We’ll get our 3 choice in the identified positions. Which won’t be enough to get too six. Let alone compete for “the biggest prizes” as our deluded board say. At the end of the day if you buy a fiat 500 you ain’t winning a grand prix. Not even talking about odegaard. Apparently we’ve cooled our interest… Read more »
All the commenters saying he’s not good enough crack me up.
Keep telling yourself that if it helps- there’s no way we can afford him. Whoever we end up wityh in that spot (if we end up with a replacement at all) is gonna make Odegaard look like Bergkamp.
Supporters never sound dumber than when they discuss transfers, myself definitiely included. We go from “never heard of him” to “have to have him, based entirely on 5 minutes of youtube highlights” in 2 days.
I can see the argument for CM being important to allow more focus and balance towards attacking. But I prefer ACM/AF because it is harder to replace. ESR is coping admirably but we also need backup and ideally someone who is press resistant and greater range of passing. ESR is at his best taking the ball on the run and giving one twos or even better third man runs breaking final line. We don’t have someone who can play that ball into the third man run. There isn’t any in the academy but in terms of CM we may have… Read more »