Football journalist David Ornstein has been sharing some details on Arsenal’s loan deal for Real Madrid midfielder Martin Odegaard.
This comes after Ornstein recently co-hosted the latest episode of The Athletic’s Ornstein & Chapman Podcast where he spoke about the biggest news stories surrounding the Premier League at the moment.
Arsenal have recently announced the loan signing of Odegaard, and Ornstein offered some insight into the finer details of the deal.
Speaking prior to the official announcement, he said: “As far as we know, it would just be a loan without an option to buy – which obviously isn’t ideal for Arsenal, because he’s a player they’ve liked for a long time, he’s been on their recruitment lists for a while.
“I think Edu, the technical director, has been working on this in some form or another. Conversations have been taking place since before the summer 2020 transfer window, so in that case, you would certainly see him, if you chose to go for him, being part of your future into 2021, 2022 and beyond. If you don’t get an option to buy, maybe that will be a bit disappointing.”
TIF Thoughts on David Ornstein’s comments on Arsenal’s deal for Odegaard…
In our view, with Arsenal having let go of Mesut Ozil earlier this month for a move to Fenerbahce on a free transfer, it would make sense for Arsenal to replace him with Odegaard, who has shown during his previous loan spell away from Madrid that he has what it takes to be a creative influence in a top-level team.
Since making his senior debut for Real Madrid back in May 2015, Odegaard has gone on to make just 11 appearances for Zinedine Zidane’s side.
The 22-year-old, who is currently valued at £36 million, spent the previous season on loan at Real Sociedad in which he managed to score four goals, provide six assists and earn himself a solid season rating of 7.1/10 for his performances (per WhoScored).
Despite there reportedly being no option to buy Odegaard in his loan deal with Arsenal, it will be interesting to see how he fares with the north London club considering he has never played in England before.