ODEGAARD’S CLASS ACT PROVING COSTLY
Gunners fear huge price tag
ARSENAL fear Martin Odegaard’s transfer value will rocket to around £50million this summer. The on-loan Real Madrid playmaker, 22, has become a regular in Mikel Arteta’s line-up since his arrival at the club in January.
But while it is no secret the Gunners hope to make the deal permanent in June, the more the Norwegian international shines at the Emirates, the more he is going to cost.
Real Madrid already valued Odegaard, who they signed for £2.5m as a 15-year-old, at £30m when letting him join Arsenal for the rest of the campaign.
Tellingly, though, the Spanish champions refused to include any option for the Premier League club to buy him outright.
And that is proving a wise decision, with Odegaard’s increasingly impressive performances pushing his potential fee up all the time.
And that could seriously scupper Arteta’s chances of securing him – especially with rival clubs now preparing to enter the race.
Of course, Real Madrid may well decide he does have a long-term future at the Bernabeu, after all. However, whether Odegaard will see it that way, should Zinedine Zidane remain Real coach, is another matter.
Yet even if the Frenchman keeps his job, the Gunners know they will have to fend off interest from the likes of Chelsea and Liverpool as well as Paris Saint-germain.
Arteta is optimistic that the faith he has shown in Odegaard over the last three months means they are in pole position.
But the last thing he needs is for a summer auction to kick in as Arsenal cannot compete financially against the likes of Chelsea or PSG.
In the short-term, though, there is some good news for Arteta regarding Odegaard, who has scored twice in 12 appearances for the north Londoners.
He hobbled off in
Norway’s World Cup qualifier win against
Gibraltar in midweek but his national boss Stale
Solbakken has since confirmed the ankle injury he picked up is
‘not too serious’.