Charles Watts has raised his concerns over Arsenal’s ability to keep on to Martin Odegaard heading into next season.
The 22-year-old Norwegian has settled in incredibly well to life in the Premier League, quickly establishing himself into Mikel Arteta’s first-team plans at the Emirates Stadium and putting in some impressive performances along the way.
The problem with that though, as Watts describes in the latest edition of his show, is that everyone is looking at his performances, and that could tempt other clubs to make a move for him and leave Arsenal with nothing to show for all this work come the summer.
He said: “The issue for Arsenal is the longer or the better he plays – and he is going to play better because he’s settling in at Arsenal – he’s got a couple of months left in England, and his performances are only going to go up. Because we’ve seen how good a player he is, the issue Arsenal have got with that is obviously it’s going to attract attention elsewhere.
“Yes, Arsenal will be interested. But the issue is you’re going to see clubs from all around Europe interested as well, because they’ve seen how well he did at Real Sociedad, and now more importantly, how well he has adjusted to a new league over in England and the demands of Premier League.”
Will Odegaard stay at Arsenal beyond this season?
Yes
No
TIF Thoughts on Charles Watts’ comments about Martin Odegaard’s future at Arsenal
Watts’ words should act as a form of warning to Arsenal that they need to get the deal done as soon as possible.
Whether it be to try and get the £36m-rated Odegaard back at a reasonable price, before Real Madrid decide to up the asking price, or simply to keep him away from other clubs who might be showing an interest, if they think that he is crucial to how they are going forward, then they have to sort something out soon rather than waiting until the summer.
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