Reasons why Martin Odegaard is Arsenal’s best summer arrival

Arsenal have pulled off arguably their best summer addition by welcoming back Martin Odegaard from Real Madrid – this time though – on a permanent basis.

The Gunners’ new but returning playmaker, Martin Odegaard, joins the club on a five-year deal and for an initial fee of €35m with add-ons taking it just to under €40m; this following a “successful” six-month loan spell in North London in the second half of last season.

The Premier League opening day loss to Brentford last weekend Friday created a spark in Arsenal’s summer dealings, forcing them to get their priority targets over the line early and ready to take the pitch sooner rather than later.

Arsenal thought, ” it’s Matchday 2, why not announce the double signing of Aaron Ramsdale and Martin Odegaard to help lift the morale of the squad, club, and fans?”. They have done just that –the minor hindrance – both new players are not available for when they welcome Chelsea the weekend.

Arsenal midfield was begging for a long-term playmaker

Last season once Odegaard joined on loan and the breakthrough of Emile Smith Rowe happened and the brilliance of Bukayo Saka was on full display, things got a lot better for the Gunners  – things improved drastically on the pitch on the attacking end.

Since the isolation and exit of the Gunner great Mesut Ozil, the club has suffered as they have from missing a proper and permanent creative edge over their opponents – it was never more present than it was when the Bees knocked two past them and they had nothing in the locker to unload on them and change the course of the result.

Odegaard’s top-flight career is one that must excite you, having played 159 career matches, he’s scored 24 goals and created a further 31 – the latter fully showcasing his ability to see the run and match it with an inch-perfect pass.

He does give the impression his best is yet to come and Arsenal will be hoping the Emirates is where that is going to happen.

Martin Odegaard was a player many top clubs wanted

Before making his “dream” move to Los Blancos when he was 15, there were a host of European giants vying for the midfielder.

Clubs being named were mostly hailing from the Premier League; Arsenal has always been linked to him with Liverpool as well once Jurgen Klopp took over at Anfield, and rivals Manchester United was also named.

His move to the Spanish capital saw his growth stagnate a bit, struggling for game time and then having to go out on loan on several occasions. He sadly only made 11 appearances and of that, only six of them were starts.

His best return for a club came in 2018-19 in the Dutch Eredivisie for Vitesse Arnhem, where he scored eight goals and assisted 10 – again highlighting his ability to find his man who is in on goal.

Closing large holes in the starting XI

Replacing Ozil was needed and finally, the club can move on and over to other pressing areas. They’ve worked around this area of the pitch for so long and they were punished for it.

Having him, White, Gabriel, Partey and Leno/Ramsdale, proves the Gunners have sorted out a large part of their spine. Yes, it will take some to get it right and work kinks and nicks out, but the players they have added are quality and have the potential to become world-class.

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This will in return signal the end to the pursuit of James Maddison, who Leicester City wanted a huge £60m for. It was reported before by TTF that they saw the Englishman as their priority but apparently, it was never about him and always about the 22-year-old Norwegian.

Making the deal even sweeter is that there is no buy-back clause, they got him for a cut-price, and the player himself is in control of his future and what he wants to do in the case of a future deal away from the Emirates if it was to ever happen.

Arsenal has another pressing area and that’s in the striker department. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Alexandre Lacazette’s days are numbered and nobody really knows what’s their situation at the moment. It will be interesting to see if the Gunners look to sell and buy a new number 9 before the window closes.

The Norwegian becomes the North London club’s fifth arrival this summer (Ramsdale will be their sixth), taking their total spending to an estimated £130m (I have taken the reported transfers fees into account and no add-ons included and the deal of Aaron Ramsdale also included for the total spending).