Arsenal is going through a very tough period of time. Despite making new additions in the last summer, they finished at 8th in the Premier League last season.
The North London club has had an 8th place finish for the second consecutive time. Not only that, the club could not qualify for any European competition which explains their worst performance in 25 years.
Mikel Arteta wants to bring new reinforcements in view of a stronger comeback for the new season, which is just weeks away. However, the main concern for the club is creativity. Since the departure of Mesut Ozil, Arsenal have struggled at attack due to the lack of creativity.
Nevertheless, the club wants to bring in an attacking midfielder. Arsenal have James Maddison and Martin Odegaard in mind. While Maddison is the primary target for them.
Arsenal’s offer for James Maddison turned down
According to an exclusive report from Football Insider, Leicester City have rejected an offer from Arsenal for James Maddison. The North London club is in constant talks with Leicester City for a deal. They even gave the offer to sign either of Reiss Nelson or Ainsley Maitland-Niles.
In a shocker for Arsenal, the Foxes have rejected the offer. The Premier League giants want to bring down the asking price of James Maddison. Therefore, they tried to offer a player plus cash deal to Leicester City.
However, the Foxes value James Maddison at £70 million and it is not easy for the Gunners to produce that sum of money. Since their owner Stan Kroenke hardly likes to invest into the club, the Gunners are dependent on player sales.
Nevertheless Arsenal have failed to make any significant sales. So far, only David Luiz, William Saliba and Matteo Guendouzi have gone out. Though Arsenal were close towards selling Granit Xhaka but, the Swiss International is now set to sign a new deal.
There is still optimism that a deal can still be reached for James Maddison. But there is not much time left since the transfer window is going to close in a month.
Plan B : Martin Odegaard
Arsenal have their Plan B ready if the James Maddison deal does not go through. In the possibility, the Gunners will then turn their attention to Martin Odegaard. The Norwegian did impress Mikel Arteta in his short loan spell last season.
Martin Odegaard made his way towards Arsenal in the January transfer window. He made 14 appearances for them in the Premier League. Arsenal’s attack got a new breath of life under Odegaard.
He is not sure if he would get any chances under the new manager, Carlo Ancelotti. And if the new manager makes a decision to not involve Odegaard in his plans, then Real Madrid will certainly look to sell him.
Many Premier League clubs are keen on Martin Odegaard. Liverpool and Chelsea are looking at him. But Martin Odegaard is said to be interested in a move to Arsenal if Real Madrid decide to sell him. This could benefit Arsenal.
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