Arsenal FC appears to be finished with their initial plans this transfer window and is ready to go the opposite direction. After unloading Mesut Ozil and Sokratis Papastathopoulos, the Gunners have gotten a bit of financial flexibility.
Hence, Mikel Arteta can now have some breathing room as he prowls the market for available players to fill up gaping holes in his lineup. So far, the name of Martin Odegaard has cropped up although the Gunners manager preferred not to touch on the matter, the Guardian reported.
“We’ve done the first part (shedding players) more or less and now we are focusing on the second phase. Obviously, this market and the context make it really difficult but we are looking at options and we will see what we can do,” Arteta said.
Arteta press conference key points:
- Club’s focus now on incomings
- No comment on Odegaard links
- New left-back a possibility
- Thanks ‘great professional’ Sokratis
- Thinks he found the Arsenal mole
- No comment on whether this month's departures were linked to the mole pic.twitter.com/fL55glFEYo — Charles Watts (@charles_watts) January 21, 2021
If not Odegaard, it remains to be seen who the Gunners will target. Aside from the thinning availability of players, time is not on their side. The transfer window will end on Feb. 1, yet another factor that Arteta and the company need to consider.
The 22-year-old has been constantly linked to the Gunners although it would only be a loan move. Edu has reportedly held talks with the playmaker and Spanish outlet Sport alleged that a deal could be closed soon.
Also worth noting is that the Gunners are not the only ones considering Odegaard. Real Sociedad also has a vested interest in the Norwegian meaning the Gunners may need to expand options. This is if they do not (or have not) made efforts to possibly strike a deal as of this writing.
Adding Odegaard would make sense for the Gunners. They are expected to fill critical positions, particularly in midfield. Kieran Tierney and Emile Smith Rowe could use some friendly competition to push their games to another level.
“We are looking at various positions because the movements we’ve made in this transfer window, with some players leaving the club, leave us a little bit short in certain areas,” Arteta stated.
The impending departure of Ozil and Sokratis provided Arsenal some much-needed relief. Both were still being paid but conspicuously left out of Arteta’s regular lineup in the Premier League and Europa Cup.
Ozil is likely to end up with Turkish club Fenerbahce with an official announcement expected soon. Papastathopoulos, on the other hand, has yet to find a new home. He does have several clubs interested in him but nothing has come close to a signing for now.
