Ødegaard edges closer to Arsenal transfer

Arsenal is inching ever closer to a permanent deal for Martin Ødegaard from Real Madrid. The attacking midfielder is rumored to have an agreed fee of £30m with no buy-back clause. Several sources reported that Ødegaard was an outcast in the Madrid squad and was not a part of Carlos Ancelotti's plans in the past few weeks.

The Norwegian international was on loan in the second half of last season at Arsenal and showed promise under Mikel Arteta. He featured in 20 matches and scored two goals during the loan spell. While he was only at the Emirates for six months, there is a consensus that Ødegaard felt very convinced of Arteta's plan as a pivotal piece in the starting eleven.

The transfer seems to be advanced enough that Ødegaard may have an opportunity to feature in Saturday's matchup against London rival Chelsea. Throughout Tuesday evening, there were conflicting reports that Arsenal was still pursuing Leicester City's James Maddison as their No 1 target in the window, but ultimately it seems that Ødegaard was always the Gunner's main priority.

With the potential addition of Ødegaard, Arsenal looks to remain busy in the transfer window; with just two weeks left, Arsenal still needs a replacement goalkeeper, a new right-back with Hector Bellerin forcing a transfer, and possibly a striker in the final third. Earlier Tuesday evening, it was also reported that Arsenal agreed to a £24m move for Sheffield United goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale.

After a devastating loss to Brentford to open the Premier League season, Arteta reaffirmed that the Arsenal board know exactly what they have to do in the remaining transfer weeks, telling the media, "We are very clear of what we wanted to do, what our strengths are and where we can improve. I don't think today's performance shows anything different to what we've already seen."