Arsenal sources respond to £34m transfer agreement for Arteta starter
Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard has not struck an agreement to join Galatasaray in the summer transfer window, according to reports.
The Gunners were crowned Premier League champions last season as Mikel Arteta guided them to their first title win in 22 years.
Arsenal are now looking to build on that achievement by using the money from their title success and their run to the Champions League final to improve their squad.
The Gunners are still biding their time over new additions but that hasn’t stopped some of their title-winning squad being linked away from the club.
There have been rumours that Odegaard is one of several players who could be sold this summer with Leandro Trossard and Gabriel Martinelli also included as possible departees.
And a report from Turkish journalist Selman Ozturk insisted that Galatasaray had ‘reached an agreement’ with Odegaard, while they are in negotiations with Arsenal for a fee, which they hope will fall around €40m (£34m).
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Ozturk wrote on X: ‘Galatasaray has reached an agreement with Martin Odegaard on every matter. The player’s agent, Bjorn Kvarme, was in Istanbul last week, and there are no remaining issues on the player’s side. In negotiations with Arsenal, the target is under 40 million euros or long-term installments.’
But now multiple reports have dismissed the validity of the claims with Goal hearing from their Arsenal sources that ‘there is no truth to the links’.
The website wrote: ‘Sources tell GOAL, though, that claim is false and that there is no truth to the links between the midfielder and the Turkish club.’
Football.London insists that, although Odegaard’s agent has been in Istanbul, the website ‘has been told by sources close to the player that his agent has been with him in the United States supporting his impressive performances with Norway’.
The Norway international, who is starring at the World Cup, is ‘very happy’ at Arsenal and the report adds that ‘the club are just as happy with him for his performances both on and off the pitch during the Premier League-winning season’.
Responding recently to rumours that Odegaard could be sold by Arsenal, Paul Merson reckons there will “be teams queuing round the block for him”.
Merson said on The Sports Agents: “It’s madness for me to be saying this, but they probably will be thinking about that [selling Martin Odegaard].
“But for me, I still think there’ll be teams queuing round the block for him… When you play in the position that Odegaard plays in, you’re screaming out for pace up front. You have to have pace.”
Odegaard ‘could leave’ Arsenal
Former Manchester United chief scout Mick Brown thinks Odegaard “could leave” Arsenal this summer but thinks the criticism of his performances was unfair.
Brown told Football Insider: “It’s possible (that he could leave). In the early part of last season, the biggest threat that Arsenal had was Odegaard linking up with Saka, and they were doing that very well.
“I think he realised that he had to get the ball early to Saka before he gets into that final third and then is out of places to go. Then he got injured, went out of the team, and they couldn’t find the same link of play.
“I used to think he was getting unfair criticism through being injured, but never mind, it’s happened and before it’ll happen again.
“So, from what I hear, he could leave Arsenal. It would not surprise me if he did.”
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