Real Madrid name their price for Arsenal’s top transfer target Martin Odegaard
Arsenal are desperate to bring Martin Odegaard back to North London, and now Real Madrid have named their price for the silky midfielder.
Mikel Arteta knows that he wants to build his Arsenal midfield around Martin Odegaard but he faces a challenge to bring the Spaniard back to the Premier League. The good news for the Gunners is that Real Madrid have finally named their price for the talented starlet.
According to ESPN, the Spanish giants are willing to let Odegaard go for £50 million this summer. That’s a hefty sum for the Gunners after their recent acquisition of Ben White, but it’s not an impossible sum for Arteta and the higher-ups at Arsenal. In a vacuum, it’s a perfectly reasonable sum for a player who has already proven he can be a high-level starter in the Premier League.
The biggest remaining outstanding question regarding Odegaard’s future is where he wants to play next season. He appears ready to commit his immediate future to Real Madrid if he can be assured of regular minutes. At the moment, that looks like a reasonable expectation for the Norway International under manager Ronald Koeman.
So where does this leave Arsenal?
If the Gunners really do want to bring Odegaard back to the club on a permanent basis then they need to move swiftly and decisively. They cannot afford to let the £50 million price tag be an obstacle. If they want Odegaard, they need to make an immediate bid that satisfies Real Madrid’s asking price.
Then comes the challenge of convincing the individual player that leaving Spain is in his best interest. Arsenal’s lack of European football next season could prove to be a major stumbling block. The easiest way for the Gunners to overcome that issue might be offering a wage packet that’s simply too large for Odegaard to turn down.
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In the end, the odds still favour Odegaard staying at Real Madrid for the foreseeable future. Things would be drastically different if didn’t seem to have a clear role under Koeman, but the fact he’s in the club’s plans put Arsenal in a tough spot. The Gunners may need to look elsewhere for a player who can serve as their midfield talisman.