Martin Odegaard was involved an emotional farewell with Arsenal fans as the Norwegian played the final game of his loan spell for the Gunners.
The Real Madrid star is set to return to the Spanish capital this summer after spending the second half of the season with Arsenal.
Odegaard has become an important player for Arteta in that short space of time, and the Gunners boss has been open about his desperation to make the move permanent.
It looks as though the attacking-midfielder may be open to that avenue too after he was involved in what looked to be quite an emotional farewell after the 2-0 win over Brighton on Sunday.
Odegaard helped to set up Nicolas Pepe's second as Arsenal finished eighth on the final day of the season, leaving them without European football for next season.
But after the match, the Norway international was the last player to leave the pitch as he was given a standing ovation by the Emirates crowd.
Arteta said after the match that transfer negotiations were set to take place over a potential move this summer.
“We have a very clear and strong opinion on what we’d like to do," Arteta explained.
“He’s not our player, we will have discussions in the next few weeks. We respect he’s a Real Madrid player and will have those communications.
“We’ve tried to make everything that we could to get Martin performing for the team, which I think he’s done, and he’s adapted really well to our way of playing and our football club.
“Hopefully, we have given him the hope and the feeling that this could be a good place for him here.”
When asked if he was confident of a deal, Arteta added: “I don’t know, it’s not in our hands.”
Reports over the months have suggested that Zinedine Zidane is keen to have him back at Real Madrid, but there are serious question marks over his future in that role after a trophy-less season.
