Martin Odegaard’s Arsenal transfer stance and fee talk emerges

Arsenal and their pursuit of that elusive attacking midfielder has taken supporters on a whirlwind tour of the rumour mill and so far coughed up little in the way of business. Transfers take time in the current climate and any move for Martin Odegaard won’t be smooth sailing.

If it were a simple deal to pull off it would already have been completed. Nothing is easy when you’re facing a depressed market and without the pull of European football, so as much as fans don’t want to see it, plenty of transfers may go down to the wire.

Should Arsenal have to wait until the latter stages of the window to bring in who they want then it will be far from ideal, but it’s better late than never. So long as it is late and not never.

Just like in central midfield, there is no bypassing a new No. 10. It’s nothing short of essential and seeing links to the likes of Martin Odegaard and James Maddison does provide some reassurance that work is being done.

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Martin Odegaard’s Arsenal transfer stance and confusion over Real Madrid’s asking price emerge amid new links to Premier League for Norwegian

However, we mustn’t trust everything in the papers. Rumours to the aforementioned duo could well be what is wanted to be released, all the while Willian closes in on a two-year extension. Who knows.

The latest batch of ‘true or false’ comes courtesy of Madrista, which states that Odegaard would prefer a loan move to Arsenal as he still harbours hopes of becoming a Real Madrid star in the future.

Unpacking that, it would be highly unlikely for the Norwegian to want anything temporary. If it were to happen the it would be his sixth loan spell away from Los Blancos since joining seven years ago, offering no clarity or security for what may come 12 months down the line.

It also doesn’t suit Real, who are seeking to accrue as much finance as possible this window to fund a move for Kylian Mbappe. Oh, and also solve their crippling debt issues. Maybe.

As for Arsenal, loans have to stop. The moves being made in this transfer window are encouraging as they’re tending to the medium and long-term future of the club, calling it quits on temporary fixes that hinder squad building and player development.

If Odegaard is the man the club are after, then they need to go out pay for him; make the deal a permanent one and start developing him as an Arsenal player. Loans have to end, regardless of whether the aforementioned reports out of Spain are believable or not (they aren’t).

And how much would he cost? A figure(s) has been mooted.

Continued…