Martin Odegaard joins Arsenal on loan from Real Madrid
The 22-year-old has been signed to bolster Arsenal's creativity department and will wear the no.11 shirt
JoriPress
Martin Odegaard has joined Arsenal on loan from Real Madrid.
The Norwegian midfielder will join up immediately with his new team-mates after penning a six-month loan deal with the Gunners.
Odegaard, 22, had conversations with technical director Edu, manager Mikel Arteta and his on-loan Real Madrid team-mate Dani Ceballos before deciding on the move, and it's said the conversations with Arteta in particular helped secure the deal.
The creative midfielder recently became available for a loan move after it had became clear that he would not be getting regular minutes under Zinedine Zidane at Real Madrid.
The six-month loan deal is not expected to include an option to buy and is similar to the agreement Arsenal currently have with Real Madrid over Ceballos, who is expected to return to the Bernabeu in the summer.
Gunners technical director Edu had spoken with Odegaard's father Hans and agent Bjorn Tore Kvarme, while on-loan midfielder Dani Ceballos had also helped convinced the Norwegian to pick Arsenal over Real Sociedad where he spent part of last season on loan.
"I like the club and I always liked the way that the club wants to play," Odegaard said.
"Everything about the club and now how the manager wants to play, I think it's a club that really suits me well. So I think it's a good match."
Speaking after his move to the club, Odegaard confirmed from last week and revealed that manager Mikel Arteta and his on loan Real Madrid team-mate Dani Ceballos played a huge part in persuading him to sign for the club.
"That was also important for me and he was happy for me to come here, so that was a good thing for me, to know someone here and to hear from someone inside the club as well. It's good."
Odegaard has become frustrated with his lack of game time in recent months and has been assured of a platform to showcase his qualities at the highest level, where he'll compete with Emile Smith Rowe for a place in the Arsenal starting XI.
He will the no.11 shirt for Arsenal.
Technical director Edu said:
“We are delighted to welcome Martin to the club until the end of the season. I would like to thank everyone at Real Madrid and Martin’s representatives for their collaboration in making this loan move happen. Martin is an exceptional talent and we are strengthening our squad by introducing an exciting offensive player to the club for the remaining months of this season.”
Mikel Arteta said:
“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.”
