Arsenal deal ‘90% done’ after Real Madrid star misses training
Arsenal are ‘hopeful’ that they can tie up a deal to bring Real Madrid’s Martin Odegaard to the Emirates Stadium very soon, according to reports.
Mikel Arteta is interested in bringing the Norway international to the Emirates on loan with him struggling for game time under Zinedine Zidane.
The playmaker joined Madrid in 2015 and was expected to play a major role in La Liga this season following a successful loan spell at Real Sociedad last term, but he’s only featured for 232 minutes.
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The Athletic claimed on Wednesday that Edu has been in talks over a deal for Odegaard since last week but that Real Sociedad were also interested in another loan.
And Spanish publication Sport added that the Gunners were ‘very close’ to landing him on loan on Thursday, adding that his ‘flight to London is about to take off’.
The 22-year-old has shown real quality as a number 10, and the idea would be for Arsenal to take him on loan as competition for Emile Smith Rowe following the departure of Mesut Ozil.
And now The Athletic journalist David Ornstein claims on Friday that the Gunners are ‘hopeful’ that Odegaard ‘will pick Arsenal above other options’.
Ornstein adds that Odegaard ‘didn’t train with Real Madrid squad on Thurs – he was inside, doing gym work etc’ and that more would ‘become clear soon’ with the Real ‘group scheduled to train at 11am today’.
In a later tweet, Ornstein added that a loan deal for Odegaard is ‘thought to have progressed to around 90% done and looking good for Arsenal’.
However, he did warn that ‘there are still details that need to be worked through so it’s not finalised, nor at the stage where he is travelling to London yet’.