It’s done! Arsenal bring in Martin Odegaard from Real Madrid
Reading Time: 2min | Wed. 27.01.21. | 13:47
The Norwegian wonderkid joins Arsenal on loan until the end of 2020/21 season
He couldn’t force his way into Zinedine Zidane’s team, but Mikel Arteta couldn’t wait to bring Martin Odegaard to the Emirates. The English club confirmed the loan signing of the Norway international on Wednesday.
The 22-year-old creative midfielder was delighted to pull on a red and white shirt. Martin is no stranger to Arsenal. While still at Stromgodset in his homeland, he was invited on trials at various big clubs around Europe. He spent time at Liverpool, Bayern, Real Madrid and Arsenal in the summer of 2014. At that time, he was only a schoolboy but was already playing in Norwegian professional football league, drawing interest from around Europe. It was Real Madrid who signed him the following summer, but Arsenal always seems to have stayed in his mind.
"Every time I heard about Arsenal, I had a good feeling. And now I'm here. So I think it's maybe meant to be. Arteta seems like a top manager and I liked his ideas, the way he sees football and also the way he is. He gave me a great feeling and that was important for me to come here. He was crucial. I think it's a club that really suits me well."
Odegaard spent last season on loan at Real Sociedad and made significant progress while establishing himself as a mature and dependable midfielder for a very good side. He was ever-present for the Basque club and managed to score seven goals. He was widely expected to cement a place in the Real Madrid team this term, but it didn’t go according to plan as manager Zinedine Zidane blessed with numerous options in midfield.
Arsenal, on the other hand, were craving an attacking midfielder that would add much-needed creativity in the final third. The arrival of the former Stromgodset youngster has been greeted by tactician Mikel Arteta.
"It’s great that we’ve secured Martin to come to us until the end of the season. Martin is, of course, a player that we all know very well and although still young, he has been playing at the top level for a while. Martin will provide us with quality offensive options and we’re all excited to be integrating him into our plans between now and May."
???? "Every time I heard about the club, I had a good feeling. And now I'm here. So I think it's maybe meant to be."
— Arsenal (@Arsenal) January 27, 2021
???? Watch Martin Odegaard's first interview in full ????
