Tottenham Hotspur were reportedly interested in signing the Arsenal midfielder Martin Odegaard before he moved to Real Madrid.
A report from Daily Mirror claims that former Tottenham director Franco Baldini travelled to Norway and met with the representatives of current Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard, and his family in order to convince him to join the North London club.
Apparently, Tottenham were extremely keen on signing the midfielder when he was 15 years old, and they put in a considerable amount of effort to win over his family and his club. However, former Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane called the player personally in a bid to convince him to join the Spanish club.
That made up the Norwegian international’s mind, and he moved to Real Madrid for a fee of around £6 million. Lack of regular game time at the Spanish club resulted in the player ending up at Arsenal, and Tottenham will certainly be disappointed to have missed out on him.
Odegaard has now developed into one of the best midfielders in the league, and he has been a key player for Arsenal over the past year. Apart from being a quality player, he is also the club captain and will look to make his mark in the North London derby when the two sides meet on Sunday.
Spurs could have certainly used a quality playmaker like him. The North London outfit have recently signed James Maddison from Leicester City, who plays in a similar role, and the England international has proven to be an instant hit.
It will be interesting to see if he can outperform Odegaard in the North London derby tomorrow and help Tottenham continue their impressive start of the season. Spurs are currently second in the league table, and they have impressed with their free-flowing attacking football since the start of the season.
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As far as Odegaard is concerned, the 24-year-old has committed his long-term future to Arsenal recently, and he will look to continue his development with regular football at the North London club. He has all the attributes to develop into a world-class midfielder in the coming seasons.
