Martin Odegaard is heading to North London to undergo his medical after Arsenal agreed a deal with Real Madrid to sign the midfielder on loan for the rest of the season, according to the Daily Mail.
Mikel Arteta has been in the market for an attacking midfielder this month as Arsenal have lacked creativity in the side this season and Odegaard emerged as a prime target last week when Sky Sports reported the Gunners had made an approach to Madrid.
Real Sociedad were the early front-runners to sign the 22-year-old after he made it clear he wanted to leave the Bernabeu in search of regular first team football having started just five games in all competitions this season.
However, Madrid wanted to send Odegaard abroad and despite rival interest from other Premier League clubs, Arsenal won the race for his signature after Arteta held talks with the playmaker to convince him to move to the Emirates.
All that remained was to thrash out terms with Madrid and the Daily Mail are one of several media outlets claiming today that Arsenal have now reached an agreement with the Spanish giants to sign Odegaard on loan for the rest of the campaign.
The newspaper says Arsenal will pay a £2.5m loan fee and will cover the players wages, believed to be around £38,000-a-week [source: Times], but they won’t have an option to make the deal permanent in the summer.
The Daily Mail says Odegaard is already en route to London and is due to arrive on Sunday evening before undergoing his medical on Monday. Crucially, the midfielder won’t have to quarantine before linking up with his new team mates.
So, barring any late complications, Odegaard is set to join Arsenal on a short term deal and he’ll become the clubs second arrival of the January window after goalkeeper Mat Ryan was signed on loan from Brighton on Friday.
Odegaard will give Arteta another option in the attacking midfield department and the Norwegian international is expected to compete with Emile Smith Rowe for the No.10 position during the second half of the season.
The youngster has struggled to establish himself at Madrid this campaign but he excelled at Sociedad last season when he contributed seven goals and nine assists in his 36 appearances so he’ll be a terrific addition to the Arsenal squad if Arteta can get showing that sort of form again.
