My Arsenal Blog

Having taken the captain’s armband ahead of the season, a lot of expectation has been placed on the shoulders of Martin Odegaard. Real Madrid obviously knew what kind of talent is in him when they signed him back in 2015, when he was only 16 years old, but unfortunately from their point of view, as it turned out, things didn’t work out too well for him in Madrid. He was never even given a proper chance to show what he can do when given a bit of trust and patience. It did, however, work out well for Arsenal.  .......Read more here.....

The number of problems Arsenal have had with the players wearing the captain’s armband in recent years borders on ridiculous. It’s still not easy to forget the manner in which Laurent Koscielny left the club, and after that, Granit Xhaka was stripped of the privilege after an angry altercation with the fans at the Emirates. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang was the next man in line, and we all know how that ended. Alexandre Lacazette took it on from there, but the Frenchman is on his way out of the club too and he may have already played his last game for the club.  .......Read more here.....

Arsenal have been nowhere near where they should be for a very long time now. The club hasn’t had a peep into the Champions League since 2016-17, when they finished ahead of Paris Saint-Germain, Ludogorets and Basel in Group A, only to get hammered twice by Bayern Munich in the round of 16. Asked later if he was worried about his key players wanting to leave if the team didn’t make top four at the end of the season, Arsene Wenger replied that he wasn’t, because the potential failure, which did come to pass, would be a reflection on those players as much as on anyone else at the club.  .......Read more here.....

According to Matt Law of The Telegraph, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang will not play for Arsenal again before he leaves for the African Cup of Nations, set to be held from January 9th to February 6th in Cameroon.

Speaking to the press ahead of the trip to Elland Road this weekend, manager Mikel Arteta made it clear the 32-year-old forward, recently stripped of captaincy for what was described as the latest bout of indiscipline, would not be ‘available for selection’ against Leeds United.  .......Read more here.....

Apart from Bukayo Saka, Emile Smith Rowe and Aaron Ramsdale, who all played their part in England’s 10-goal thrashing of San Marino on Monday, five other Gunners represented their respective countries during this international break, so let’s take a brief look at how they fared.

Norway drew 0-0 at home against Latvia and lost 2-0 away to Netherlands, with Martin Odegaard playing the full 90 minutes on both occasions. The 23-year-old attacking midfielder will have been disappointed with what his team have done, finishing third in Group G behind Netherlands and Turkey. It means they won’t be playing at the World Cup next year.  .......Read more here.....

If anyone knows what it feels like to be tipped as a great prospect, it’s Martin Odegaard. The 22-year-old was backed to be the next big thing from the word go and now, he’s finally starting to fulfil that on a consistent basis as part of the Arsenal first team.

Of course, it’s always important to keep looking forward to the future in the beautiful game – which is why it was interesting to hear him speak about the club’s academy during a recent interview with Arsenal.com.

In it, he speaks about some players to keep an eye out for and so much more.  .......Read more here.....

In an interview with Sky Sports, Martin Odegaard was asked about his ambitions at the club, and that certainly doesn’t seem to be an area in which he lacks anything. At the moment, the goal is quite obvious – to qualify for European football at the end of this season, and after that, according to the Norwegian, to set the sights higher and aim for trophies in the Champions League and the Premier League.  .......Read more here.....

Arsenal have completed and confirmed the signing of Martin Odegaard on a permanent transfer from Real Madrid.

Odegaard joined Real’s Castilla side back in 2015 from Stromsgodset, and two years later he was promoted to the first team. However, he was never given a proper chance with the Spanish giants, and in the four years that have gone by since, he only appeared in eight La Liga matches in the famous white shirt.

Instead, he had loan spells, first with Heerenveen, then Vitesse, Real Sociedad, and eventually Arsenal in the second half of last season. The 22-year-old played for the Gunners in 20 matches in all competitions, scoring and assisting twice apiece.  .......Read more here.....

After a strong loan spell at the Emirates last season it appears as if we’re closing in on the official return of Martin Odegaard to the club – but this time, on a permanent deal.

The Norwegian has long since been tipped for greatness in the beautiful game and at the age of 22, it still feels like he’s got his whole career ahead of him. Whether or not his critics or Real Madrid agree with that theory is a different matter altogether but the bottom line is that this could be a really important turning point in the summer transfer window for Arsenal – so long as they don’t get too far ahead of themselves.  .......Read more here.....

There has apparently been a major breakthrough in Arsenal’s pursuit of a permanent deal for Martin Odegaard from Real Madrid. Multiple sources, including the likes of David Ornstein and James McNicholas of The Athletic, Sky Sports and Fabrizio Romano, claim the talks between the two clubs are in a very advanced stage and that a total agreement is now very close. It’s not completely done; there is still work to do, but Arsenal are hoping to have the Norwegian playmaker registered by midday on Friday, in order to have him available for the Chelsea clash at the Emirates on Sunday.  .......Read more here.....