Martin Odegaard bid an emotional farewell to Arsenal and thanked the club for making him feel like part of their family.
Odegaard spent the second half of the 2020-21 season on loan at Arsenal from Real Madrid, where he was struggling for game time. He made a decent impression in north London, playing 14 times in the Premier League and six in the Europa League. From those appearances, he managed two goals and two assists.
One of Arsenal’s top priorities in the transfer market this summer is to sign a playmaking midfielder as they are in desperate need of creativity on the pitch evidenced by the lack of goals scored in the previous 2020/21 campaign. Odegaard was among the rumoured targets as Arsenal head coach Mikel Arteta was said to be a huge admirer of the Norwegian’s work rate and playing style.
However, reports from Spain have indicated that Real Madrid has no intention of selling the 22-year old Norwegian midfielder as their newly appointed manager Carlo Ancelotti seeks to assess his options at Madrid. And Odegaard has seemed to have officially bid his goodbyes to the north London club and its fans in an Instagram post on Sunday.
Martin Ødegaard officially confirms that he’s not re-joining Arsenal, despite #AFC wanted to sign him. 🇳🇴
Real Madrid plan is to keep Martin – Isco could leave the club if the right bid will arrive.
📑 Ødegaard message to Arsenal fans: “You’ll have a special place in my heart”. pic.twitter.com/XBROmlbcAk
— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) July 3, 2021
Arsenal’s list of targets in the No.10 role has either been closely linked to other clubs or out of reach of the English club’s hands as they look forward to a season without European football for the first time in over two decades.
