Arsenal star told to leave club for two reasons after he ‘instructs’ agent to ‘open talks’ with Man Utd

Lewis Oldham
Arsenal Saliba Odegaard
Arsenal pair Martin Odegaard and William Saliba.

Arsenal captain Martin Odegaard has been told that he should leave the Premier League giants after it was reported that he could join Manchester United.

Odegaard has been one of Arsenal’s most important players over the past few years, but his performances have declined this season.

This is partly due to his season being derailed by injuries, though the Gunners star has been largely ineffective in most of his appearances and faces competition from £67.5m summer signing Eberechi Eze.

There have also been reports that he is unhappy at Arsenal and could leave in the coming months, with FC Barcelona and Bayern Munich among those linked with him.

Earlier this month, a report from a transfer insiders Topskills Sports UK claimed Odegaard has ‘instructed’ his agent to ‘open talks’ with Man Utd over a move to Old Trafford, with it claimed that there have been ‘broken promises’.

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Topskills Sports UK wrote on X: ‘EXCL: Martin Ødegaard has instructed his agent to open talks with Manchester United over a potential summer transfer. The Norwegian captain feels deeply unappreciated at Arsenal by both the board and coaching staff.

‘Sources say promises made to him have been broken, with high tension reported between Ødegaard and Mikel Arteta in recent weeks. He is now 100% willing to leave the club.

‘Bayern Munich remains strongly committed to signing the playmaker, but Ødegaard’s priority is to stay in the Premier League. It would take an exceptional offer to convince him to choose the Bundesliga giants over Manchester United. More to follow soon!’

Now, pundits Steve Nicol and Frank Leboeuf have told Odegaard to leave Arsenal due to the arrival of Eze and his own declining performances.

“Odegaard might be leaving Arsenal,” Nicol told ESPN.

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“If you’re Odegaard, the club captain and 18 months ago you were the guy. All of a sudden – and I know he’s had some injuries – but there’s question marks over whether he actually starts because of Eze.

“And maybe because of the way he’s been playing, someone else might get ahead of him as well. So if you’re Martin Odegaard, do you stick around? I don’t think you do.”

Leboeuf added: “I agree, I agree. I’ve always liked Martin Odegaard and the way he plays because he’s very elegant, but he’s not influential anymore.

“He’s there to start the action, to distribute the ball horizontally. But with Eze right now the moves are not the same, he’s more vertical, more influential and he’s going to help [Viktor] Gyokeres too.

“So it will be a hard time for Odegaard and he will have to make a very good choice, a big choice, at the end of the season.”