Arsenal football club have signed Martin Odegaard from Real Madrid on a permanent deal. The Premier League club announced the new acquisition via a Twitter post today, August 20, 2021.
Welcome høme, Martin Ødegaard 👋🇳🇴 pic.twitter.com/OUlG9YGDKj
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) August 20, 2021
Recall that Martin Odegaard spent the second half of the 2020-2021 season on loan at Arsenal after he was not able to break into the club’s first eleven during the era of Zinedine Zidane.
Then, Arsenal paid Real Madrid £1.80 million to bring the 22-year-old Norwegian attacking midfielder to the Premier League on loan. In his loan spell, Martin Odegaard played 20 times in all competitions in which he scored 2 goals and provided 2 assists.
Arsenal’s coach, Mikel Arteta was impressed with the performance of the Norway international and decided to approach Real Madrid for the services of Martin Odegaard on a permanent deal this summer.
Fortunately for Arsenal, the player was not in the plans of Real Madrid’s new coach, Carlo Ancelotti even though the player had two full seasons left on his contract with the Spanish club.
Hence, all that Arsenal needed to do was to agree on a transfer fee worth about £34 million with Real Madrid for Martin Odegaard which they did. After that, it was a done deal.
The Norwegian left Real Madrid earlier in the week and returned to London for his medical at Arsenal. He carried out the medical on Wednesday and was confirmed the player of the London-based club on Friday.
Back with us 😍
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) August 20, 2021
✍️ Welcome, Martin
According to viral reports, Arsenal offered Martin Odegaard five years deal which means that the 22-year-old attacking midfielder is expected to stay at Arsenal until June 30, 2026.
Unlike at Real Madrid where he managed to make just 11 appearances between 2017 and 2021, Odegaard is expected to enjoy a regular game time under coach Mikel Arteta.
The player who would have competed with him for game time at Arsenal was Joe Willock. Fortunately for him, Arsenal have sold him to Newcastle earlier in August which means that he is Arteta’s number one choice in the attacking midfield role.
Hence, Martin Odegaard is expected to play against Chelsea at 16:30 on Sunday, August 22. His speedy reintegration into the squad is possible because he is fully vaccinated against Covid-19 and would not have to self-isolate. Besides, he participated in Real Madrid’s pre-season after his loan spell at Arsenal.
