Martin Ødegaard | Arsenal player

roonster09

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Official now, Arsenal did well to sign him. He had a good loan spell and looks very good addition for their team.
 

WeePat

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I like him. I think he's a good player. Good move to bring him back.
 

mu4c_20le

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Sociedad was his level. Seems to thrive when he's a big fish in a small pond.
 

dal

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He hasn’t been underwhelming at all, I think we will see a player this year.

He’s only 22, roughly the same price we paid for Amad, it’s a brilliant deal, I’d rather have Odegaard then Amad.

He’s shown how good he can be and has been brilliant in la liga in patches, he now has to do it consistently.
 

just4fun

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They know his contributions after the loan spell. If their midfield gets stronger, this is a good transfer for them. Simple as that.
 

Samid

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Are a lot of Norwegians on here deeply invested in this transfer?
Not really. Hype around him has died and he hasn’t been performing for the national team for a couple of years now. We’re all on the Haaland train these days.
 

Ødegaard

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Are a lot of Norwegians on here deeply invested in this transfer?
Nope. Didn't care about Madrid, don't care about Arsenal.
He is a media darling in Norway though, has to be said, both for his style of play and good attitude.

I think people in general are overly unfair on their criticisms of Ødegaard, but other than that he hasn't yet taken the step needed to be regarded as a top player.
 

Oranges038

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That video almost felt like an obituary.

I wonder how much fo these gowls get paid to produce this crap.

Release a short statement confirming the signing. Include some quotes from the player and manager about how they are all delighted and excited. Put it in black print on a white background with a picture of said signing holding an outstretched scarf aloft. Job done in less than 10 minutes.
 

Pep's Suit

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I think this is his level, to be honest. Arsenal only miss Sterling now who'd fit there very well.
 

GoonerBear

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At least we have finally signed a player that improves the first team for this season!
 

Pep's Suit

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At least we have finally signed a player that improves the first team for this season!
Well, you already had him for few months. Basically Arsenal spent 130M and the only thing they did is replaced Luiz with White.
 

GoonerBear

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Sociedad was his level. Seems to thrive when he's a big fish in a small pond.
He'll get that at Arsenal. Could see it in spells during his loan. He'll quickly become the attacking leader of the team.
 

Jezpeza

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They had a taste of him last season. Didnt look much and 1 goal and 2 assists in 14 games. Another £30m on a total meh player. How is this an upgrade on what they had? Why sell willock and then sign him? Its reported they will spend another £30m on Ramsdale, a twice relegated keeper as a backup. £130m spent on players without improving your team is absolutely fecking crackers
 

Champ

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Will he take game time away from Smith Rowe, who is seemingly a better player already in my lacklustre opinion then Odegaard?

I guess it makes sense to have depth and rotation but Arsenal need a striker more than anything.
 

Nish115

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Well, you already had him for few months. Basically Arsenal spent 130M and the only thing they did is replaced Luiz with White.
Such a narrow minded view point.

So far we've:

- Upgraded Ryan with Ramsdale (not worth the fee, but it's a homegrown upgrade so we will see)
- Upgraded Luiz with White (again, too expensive but we'll see)
- Upgraded Kolasinac with Tavares (not too hard to get better on)
- Replaced Ceballos with Lakonga, who has looked quite good so far.
- Signed Odegaard permanently for £30m, which is a great fee. You can mock all you want but we improved A LOT (statistically and fluidly) with him in the team, and he is a leader.

We've spent £130m on upgrading the players who have left the club and needed to be upgraded. People can talk about money all they want, but realistically out of £130, we overpaid probably by £25m (£10m Ramsdale, £15m White). Clubs waste £25m on signings all the time..

And for anyone who says, we could have used that money elsewhere, the answer is no we couldn't have. We can't buy a RB until we sell one of the 4 we have, and the same story for the striker position. The issue is nobody wants to buy. So the club has done the best it can for now until more sales are met.

It's so funny because there's a narrative that Arsenal are broke and don't spend money. Then we finally spend money on some promising players, and all of a sudden we've spent too much.
 
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roonster09

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Will he take game time away from Smith Rowe, who is seemingly a better player already in my lacklustre opinion then Odegaard?

I guess it makes sense to have depth and rotation but Arsenal need a striker more than anything.
They have one of the best 9 who scores lot of goals but for some reasons Arteta thinks he should play as left wing forward. Auba scored 22 league goals in 2018-19 and 2019-20 but for some reason Arteta played him as wing forward.
 

Nish115

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They have one of the best 9 who scores lot of goals but for some reasons Arteta thinks he should play as left wing forward. Auba scored 22 league goals in 2018-19 and 2019-20 but for some reason Arteta played him as wing forward.
You're aware that he scored those league goals.. from the LW..

Also aware we've tried him up top on his own, and it hasn't worked well?
 

MattofManchester

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Good move for Arsenal. Bad move for him.
How many Arsenal players have actually improved under Arteta?
 

Grylte

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I think people in general are overly unfair on their criticisms of Ødegaard, but other than that he hasn't yet taken the step needed to be regarded as a top player.
You're just biased because of your name! :lol:

I agree with you, but then again, this is the Caf, filled with the drama queens of football fans.

Good move for Arsenal. Bad move for him.
How many Arsenal players have actually improved under Arteta?
I think it's a good move for him, to play regularily in the PL instead of being loaned out for the 50th time, or be squad player at Real.
 

RyRoc

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They had a taste of him last season. Didnt look much and 1 goal and 2 assists in 14 games. Another £30m on a total meh player. How is this an upgrade on what they had? Why sell willock and then sign him? Its reported they will spend another £30m on Ramsdale, a twice relegated keeper as a backup. £130m spent on players without improving your team is absolutely fecking crackers
didn’t the stats show he was one of the highest chances creators in the league during his time there? Can’t really blame him if he’s creating chances and others aren’t putting them away. Arsenal do some really strange business most of the time but can’t really see a downside to this. He’s 22, showed glimpses of his potential and likely to get better. 30m seems more than reasonable.
 

11101

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Kinda a shame that he's ended up on a perm transfer to a mid table side after so much early hype.
Yeah, he was supposed to be what Haaland is becoming. Now he's an average signing for an average side.

Should never have gone to Madrid so young.
 

Jezpeza

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didn’t the stats show he was one of the highest chances creators in the league during his time there? Can’t really blame him if he’s creating chances and others aren’t putting them away. Arsenal do some really strange business most of the time but can’t really see a downside to this. He’s 22, showed glimpses of his potential and likely to get better. 30m seems more than reasonable.
for me its because willock tore it up as a 10 at Newcastle on loan in that period and i thought Smith Rowe was going to be that player. Selling willock and swapping odegaard just seems like pointless business to me they should have kept willock. I dont think anyone was crazy enthusiastic for odegaard to return.

I think he’s an alright signing but i just think arsenals wider strategy is crazy. Their first 11 last season struggled to make top half and yet despite spending all that money they havent really improved it.
 

Eriku

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didn’t the stats show he was one of the highest chances creators in the league during his time there? Can’t really blame him if he’s creating chances and others aren’t putting them away. Arsenal do some really strange business most of the time but can’t really see a downside to this. He’s 22, showed glimpses of his potential and likely to get better. 30m seems more than reasonable.
Not just that, how many times did he slide a winger through for an easy cut-back and goal?

He needs to take more chances, though. Hopefully it’s like when he was young and went to Holland, and took a little while to get comfortable enough to try some more sensational stuff. Also hoping his Jumper’s knee doesn’t hamper him.
 

Iker Quesadillas

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didn’t the stats show he was one of the highest chances creators in the league during his time there? Can’t really blame him if he’s creating chances and others aren’t putting them away.
It would depend on what the "xG" of the chance is, no?
 

roonster09

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You're aware that he scored those league goals.. from the LW..

Also aware we've tried him up top on his own, and it hasn't worked well?
No, but I'm aware that Iwobi, Saka, Mkhitaryan played as wingers in 2018-19 and Auba played very few games as LW.
 

Gandalf Greyhame

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There's a fantastic player in there, and I think Arsenal might be a good place for him to realize his long awaited potential. Good move for all parties at that price, I'd say.
 

UncleBob

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Nope. Didn't care about Madrid, don't care about Arsenal.
He is a media darling in Norway though, has to be said, both for his style of play and good attitude.

I think people in general are overly unfair on their criticisms of Ødegaard, but other than that he hasn't yet taken the step needed to be regarded as a top player.
Depends what you mean by top player, but yeah, at the moment he still has plenty of potential but a bit average overall.

Sporting wise, i still think the decision to go to Madrid was a bad one. Real Madrids interest increased with Ødegaards overall popularity, the importance of showing that Real Madrid was the natural club for the biggest talents, which he for some reason was hailed as. Ødegaards father went on a very public trip to all the top clubs, it was an interesting media strategy compared to all the other young talents that visits clubs for trials and talks. Real Madrid paid his father a fortune in a one off payment, £3mill, to assist coaching the 11 year olds at Real Madrid as a part of Martins contract, then there was his yearly 100k euro wages. It's fairly easy to understand why Real Madrid was an overall great choice for all of the involved parties. Just the added publicity makes it easier to find a new club.

I don't think moving to Arsenal at this stage is such a brilliant sporting decision either. Arsenal are a mess, Arteta could very well be sacked before christmas unless they improve a lot..It would hardly be much of a surprise if whoever comes in doesn't fancy Martin as a starting player. He's now on a 5 year contract at Arsenal, there's little reason to doubt he's earning a decent wage at Arsenal.

Still, he's playing at a higher level than most professional players ever will, earning millions and will be set for life if he handles his finances well.