Mikel Arteta gives transfer verdict on Martin Odegaard

Mikel Arteta plans to sign Martin Odegaard permanently in the summer.

The Norwegian midfielder received an emotional farewell as he played the final game of his loan spell with the North London club.

He will return to Real Madrid after spending the second half of the season at the Emirates.

He quickly became an integral player in Mikel Arteta’s squad and the managers expressed his desire to sign the Norwegian permanently in the summer.

Mikel Arteta confirmed that transfer negotiations were set to take place in the summer.

“We have a very clear and strong opinion on what we’d like to do,” Arteta explained.

“He’s not our player, we will have discussions in the next few weeks. We respect he’s a Real Madrid player and will have those communications.

“We’ve tried to make everything that we could to get Martin performing for the team, which I think he’s done, and he’s adapted really well to our way of playing and our football club.

“Hopefully, we have given him the hope and the feeling that this could be a good place for him here.”

When asked if he was confident of a deal, Arteta added: “I don’t know, it’s not in our hands.”

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