Arsenal are set to take their summer spending over the £100million mark as they close in on a deal for former loanee Martin Odegaard.
Mikel Arteta has been desperate to sign an attacking midfielder this summer, with Leicester City’s James Maddison and Lyon’s Houssem Aouar two names that have been heavily linked with the Gunners.
However, it appears the north London side have set their sights on a player who fans will recognise from last season, Odegaard of Real Madrid.
The 22-year-old joined Arsenal in January on loan until the end of the season, scoring once and assisting two in 14 league appearances.
The Norwegian has fallen out of favour in Madrid and it appears newly-appointed manager Carlo Ancelotti, formerly of Everton, has no plans for the midfielder to stay at the Santiago Bernabeu this season.
According to ESPN, Arsenal is expected to return to the Emirates Stadium in a deal worth approximately €40m [£34m], though no personal terms have been agreed yet.
Arsenal’s season started in horrendous style as they were beaten by newly-promoted Brentford 2-0, with Sergi Canos and Christian Norgaard scoring the goals that will go down in the Bees’ history.
Arteta’s lacked in all departments, but a spark of energy and creativity is certainly required. Academy graduate Emile Smith-Rowe, who signed a new five-year deal in pre-season, did all he could in the no.10 role but is arguably better out wide.
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Odegaard coming in with his experience from playing in a Madrid squad that has a winning mentality drilled into them every day is only a good thing.
The midfielder is also the captain for the Norway international team so amongst a young and inexperienced changing room, Odegaard’s leadership qualities are priceless and he could progress into the captaincy role at the club depending on the length of his contract.
As reported by The Athletic, the Gunners are keen to complete this deal as soon as possible so that they have a strengthened side to play against London rivals, Chelsea this weekend.
The Blues will have a new signing of their own eager to hit the ground running at their not-so-new club, striker Romelu Lukaku.
The Belgian forward completed a £97.5m switch from Inter Milan last week as Thomas Tuchel looks to build on last season’s Champions League victory and mount a title charge this campaign.
Lukaku left Stamford Bridge in 2014 after two successful loan spells at West Brom and Everton, permanently joining the latter for £28m.
After an impressive few years in Merseyside, Manchester United signed the striker for £75m but things never worked out for him at Old Trafford. The no.9 then moved to Inter Milan and put himself back on track, improving his fitness, end product and speed.
The club’s record-signing attended Chelsea training for the first time on Tuesday and should cause Arsenal centre-backs Pablo Mari and Ben White countless difficulties.
The newly-formed partnership struggled to deal with the power and aerial ability of Brentford’s Ivan Toney last week so that issue is only going to worsen up against one of the best in the world in regards to those attributes.
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