Arsenal are seeing the best of Martin Odegaard this season after he signed permanently from Real Madrid in 2021. The Norwegian playmaker was handed the club captaincy at the start of the 2022/23 campaign and has led the Gunners to the top of the Premier League table.
Odegaard has scored seven goals and provided a further five assists in 21 appearances so far this term, the same number of goals and assists he managed in 40 games last season. The 24-year-old's improvement has highlighted Mikel Arteta's ability to develop young talents into better players in a short period of time.
Joao Felix has struggled to meet expectations since completing a £110million transfer to Atletico Madrid back in 2019. The Portuguese forward looks increasingly likely to leave the Spanish outfit in January after his relationship with Diego Simeone has worsened in recent months.
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According to The Athletic, some influential figures at the club believe Felix would be an ideal addition to Arteta's squad, especially on loan, given the injury to Gabriel Jesus seeing the Brazilian sidelined until February. The current Premier League leaders like the Portugal international and see a deal for the 23-year-old as similar to the initial loan that brought Odegaard from Madrid to the Emirates Stadium. However, they look likely to face competition from Chelsea and Manchester United.
Arteta has shown that the north Londoners can provide an opportunity for players that need to reignite their career with the chance of earning a permanent move in the summer should they perform well. Felix's World Cup performances showed he still has the quality to be a top attacker, with some pundits suggesting that Simeone's play style hampered the Portugal international's output and that a more attack-minded team would suit the striker more.
Arsenal would be willing to secure a loan deal for Felix but the current financial package being offered to them by his agent, Jorge Mendes, would need to significantly drop before a move could be agreed. According to The Athletic, Mendes has contacted multiple English clubs to lay out possible terms for a loan until the summer.
Initial conversations have focused on a €21million (£18.5million) package for the remainder of this season, with a €15million (£13.2million) loan fee going to Atletico, and the rest covering the player’s wages. It remains to be seen whether Felix would sacrifice his huge salary or if Atleti would lower their demands for a loan fee to move Felix on, but the Portuguese forward could look to follow Odegaard's example to get his career back on track.
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