Arsenal were among six English clubs who were originally intended to play midweek games against the European elite starting next season. The Gunners now fear that their decision to leave the project could have a lasting impact.
According to a report by The Sun, the Gunners are now fearful of losing Real Madrid loanee Martin Odegaard. The Gunners withdrew their name from the European competition amid heavy criticism. However, the Real Madrid chairman is continuing his push for the elite competition and could punish the English side for their actions by not sanctioning a permanent move for Odegaard.
Odegaard joined Arsenal in January on a six-month loan deal. The Norwegian international spent the first half of the season at Real. However, he decided to leave the club temporarily after being used infrequently by head coach Zinedine Zidane. The Gunners approached Los Blancos over a ‘dry’ loan deal as they looked to deal with the lack of creativity in their squad, and the two teams were in agreement.
The report suggests that Real Madrid President, Florentino Perez, is not in the mood to provide any favours to the English sides, which abandoned the Super League plans following severe fan unrest. As such, he is likely to set Odegaard’s asking price beyond the reach of the Gunners, who were hoping to open negotiations for the playmaker in the coming weeks.
Odegaard joined Real Madrid from Stromsgodset in 2015 but has barely played for the senior team. He has majorly spent his career out on loan and enjoyed a good spell last season at Real Sociedad.
He joined fellow Real Madrid loanee, Dani Ceballos, at the Emirates in January 2021. Both the players are expected to return to their parent club once their loan deals expire in June.
Meanwhile, Odegaard and Ceballos aren’t the only midfielders Arsenal could lose in the upcoming transfer window. Newcastle United head coach, Steve Bruce, confirmed that the club is working on making Joe Willock’s loan deal permanent. The England youth international joined the Magpies on a six-month dry loan in the 2021 January transfer window.
“He’s a young lad, and I’d love to keep him here, and we will have some big conversations with Arsenal,”
Bruce recently told reporters.
Willock has made nine appearances so far for Newcastle and scored three important goals. The young midfielder scored his first for the club on his debut in a 3-2 win over Southampton. He also netted the crucial equalizer in the Magpies 2-2 draw against Tottenham Hotspur recently.
His third and final goal for the club arrived in a 3-2 win over ten-man West Ham United. Willock popped up to score the winner in that game after Newcastle had surrendered a two-goal lead to the Hammers.
The youngster has been at Arsenal since 2004 and made his debut for the senior team against Newcastle in 2018. He has since appeared more than 70 times for the club and scored 11 goals.
