Real Madrid will not launch the offensive to re-sign Arsenal captain amid recent speculation linking the two parties.
According to a report by Spanish outlet Defensa Central, Martin Odegaard does not feature on the radar of Real Madrid. The reigning La Liga champions have no interest in the Arsenal captain, with their priorities lying elsewhere.
Martin Odegaard has resurrected his career since joining Arsenal from Real Madrid. The 24-year-old had joined Los Blancos as a prodigious prospect in January 2015. He had also been the youngest-ever player for Real Madrid at 16 years and 157 days old. But success eluded the young playmaker at Real Madrid.
Despite promising stints on loan at Heerenveen, Vitesse, and Real Sociedad, Odegaard never made the cut at Real Madrid. And Arsenal snapped the Norwegian international up in January 2021. The Gunners initially signed the player on loan for the second half of the 2020/21 season.
But Odegaard’s success in his short loan stint prompted Arsenal to pursue a permanent deal in the summer transfer window of 2021. While the 24-year-old playmaker initially wanted to succeed at Real Madrid, he soon realised that he was not going to make it at the Santiago Bernabeu. And Arsenal brought him back to the Emirates in August 2021.
Since then, Odegaard has gone from strength to strength at the Emirates, becoming the club captain for Arsenal. And the 24-year-old is enjoying a solid 2022/23 campaign, amassing seven goals and five assists in 16 Premier League outings. But recent reports had claimed that Real Madrid could re-sign the player.
The said reports suggested that the Merengues have the option to re-sign Odegaard in his deal with Arsenal. But Defensa Central has quashed such claims, indicating that the Arsenal captain does not feature in Real Madrid’s plans. And Jude Bellingham seems the likeliest candidate to bolster the Real Madrid midfield.
As for Odegaard, the 24-year-old might not be planning to leave Arsenal anyway. And he will be focused on delivering the Premier League title after nearly two decades to the Gunners. Meanwhile, a few other Arsenal players feature on Real Madrid’s radar, including Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli. But the duo will likely sign new deals with the north Londoners soon.
