Martin Odegaard will be staying at Real Madrid next season with Arsenal now “planning” to sign other targets, according to CBS Sports journalist James Benge.
The former Gunners correspondent for Football.London says he has it on good authority that there is no hope of the Norwegian international returning on loan for a second spell at the Emirates:
Odegaard staying with Madrid – Arsenal have been planning around this eventuality for some time although crucially when Villa stole a march on Buendia they were still hoping to bring back the Norwegian. https://t.co/hpzA8xNwOg
— James Benge (@jamesbenge) June 23, 2021
Supporters on Twitter are actually quite happy that Arsenal have given up on Odegaard and many are now expecting the London club to go after Leicester’s James Maddison:
Great! Lets move on
— Xhan13? (@zak13g) June 23, 2021
Jimmy Maddison
— . (@AFCBowie) June 23, 2021
Maddison here we come
— Lukman Ali ??????? (@lukmanali1221) June 23, 2021
Bernardo Silva/Maddison incoming
— SD1988 (@SD19888) June 23, 2021
@MilitJB maddison is coming pic.twitter.com/zDrhDZXTFP
— E??. (@emman_afc) June 23, 2021
Maddison is better than Odegaard!!!!
— Jax (@Lilliz28) June 23, 2021
pic.twitter.com/yUCCX4j4zD
— A.Jamzy (@a_jamzy) June 23, 2021
Maybe a bid for James Maddison?
— Johnny King (@ThekingJ81) June 23, 2021
The biggest issue in terms of going after Maddison will be the price. The England international could cost as much as £60m and, with the Gunners expected to invest £50m in Ben White, that would be a huge outlay on just two players.
It may be the case that Arsenal will consider cheaper options. Names such as Lazio’s Joaquin Correa, RB Leipzig’s Marcel Sabitzer, Lyon’s Houssem Aouar and Real Betis’s Nabil Fekir have all been mentioned in reports and we shall see who emerges as the main alternative to Odegaard.
