Arsenal are looking to be busy in the final week of the transfer window as Mikel Arteta looks to add a creative midfielder, a left-back and a goalkeeper to his squad.
The Gunners are closing in on the first item on their shopping list, with a deal to sign Martin Odegaard from Real Madrid close.
As reported by Football.London, technical director Edu has spoke with the player's father, Hans, and agent Bjorn Tore Kvarme, while Real Madrid loanee Dani Ceballos also helped to persuade the player into an agreement.
The Norway international will help to fill a creative void that has been exposed at Arsenal this season, providing healthy competition to Emile Smith Rowe.
While the 22-year-old is yet to make his mark at Real Madrid, the club he joined at the age of 16 after attracting interest from across Europe, he excelled during a loan spell with Real Sociedad last season.
Arsenal fans have quickly unearthed some exciting stats surrounding the midfielder, who, in the first half of last season, had passes into the final third and the penalty box that were comparable with Lionel Messi.
All in all, Odegaard played 2532 minutes of La Liga action during his loan spell in the Basque county, scoring four goals and contributing six assists.
He also created 62 chances in total and completed 63 take ons, averaging one of each around every 40 minutes - translating to at least two-per-match.
That is comparable to Mesut Ozil last season, who averaged 2.3 chances created per match, and more than both Nicolas Pepe and Joe Willock, who rounded-off Arsenal's top-three in this area.
